Keep It Silent
by Milley Black
Summary: [SasuNaru/NaruSasu/Mafia!AU] There is an important rule in the Mafia: a Man should always be able to pull the trigger without feeling any remorse nor hesitation. Sasuke hesited. The reason? A damn ghost from a past Sasuke tried to forget about. It was the worst thing that could happen to both of them. Yet, also probably the best?
1. 1 - A Familiar Face

_*hides a long moment*_

_*goes out of the shadows because she has to*_

_.. Hello everyone? _

_Huh I'm so confused about all of it. So yeah, if you know me, you may know that, when it concerns writing... It is usually a miracle when I manage to write a lot. My miracle came with the one which url is Letsusura on Tumblr. I can say, this miracle can be a real pain, bossing me around for me to work my fanfic all day. _

_Anyway, I talk a lot with sweet-evil-**Letsusura**, and one day, we came to talk about a Mafia!AU for Sasuke and Naruto, for which I had a lot of ideas. Which she forced me to write, obviously. _

_So here we are today, to watch the embarassement of my work. If you like it, please tell me, I usually assume everything I do suck. If you don't like it, go complain to Letsusura, it's her fault if you have it on line. _

_So, infos on the fanfic I guess?_

_**Copyright**: All the characters belongs to Masashi Kishimoto with the manga Naruto._

_**Ship**: Sasuke x Naruto _

**_Title: Keep It Silent_**

_**Summary**: Mafia!AU. There is an important rule in the Mafia: a Man should always be able to pull the trigger without feeling any remorse nor hesitation. Sasuke hesited. The reason? A damn ghost from a past Sasuke tried to forget about. It was the worst thing that could happen to both of them. Yet, also probably the best? _

_**Rating**: M for obvious reasons, going from language to possible smutt scenes in the future (note the possible part, I'm not sure I'll do those). **Also the subjects will be really heavy**, there will probably have prostitution or rape mention, there will be violence so, yeah, I would even say M+ but you know how is about it. _

_**Warning:** Okay here the main problem with this fic, I am not an english speaker. My english is far from perfect and there are chances that it shows. I am deeply sorry about it and I hope it won't be that problematic in the future. _

_**Warning 2: I** have most of the story in my head, which makes it a bit difficult for me since I have a lot of ideas that I can introduce early but can seem really clumsy seeing like that. I'll talk about it more in the After Chapter Notes._

_**Warning 3:** The fanfic is a Multi-POV fanfics and knowing myself, I'll probably end up with developping the minor characters just as much as I develop the main. I also really love some of the ladies than many hates, and it will probably show as well, so I prefer to warn right now. _

_**Warning 4:** I made some research on my subject before writing,and guess what it was the worst idea I've ever had because it just mixed up everything I planned. So in the end, I decided to keep only the things I thought could be interesting. At some point, I will talk about the Cosa Nostra in the fanfic: it is something that exists, but for the well being of the fanfic, I decided to turn it into something from the past, and even thought I mentioned it, it is not really that important. The Cosa Nostra is mostly a lifestyle that many of the italian mafia adopted (if I believe my sources), and it had a lot of rules (that's why I'm talking about twisting those rules). If really you want to know about it, I'll do a note about it on the next chapter, but for now I don't see the point. Plus, there will probably be characters to explain it in the future if I insist on it ^^'_

_**Warning 5:** The worst thing with me is how long I can stand a fanfic. I will try my hardest to at least give a lot of chapters to this fanfics, but I can't promise you a regular publication. I guess you can still count on Letsusura tho to push me to work _

Here it is. You can still find me on my Tumblr (**ichaichasasunaru**) and I will post any news under the tag **#FFKISNews** (new upload, new links ect..) So yeah, if you want to follow up here...

**So now I only wish you the best reading possible regarding those circonstances and I wish you the best. See you in the after chapter notes!**

* * *

**1 - A familiar Face.**

* * *

The celling was too damn bright, that one morning. The sun had made its way between the recently broken shutters, and couldn't stop shining like crazy. In result, Sasuke was wild awake, ways before his alarm clock turns on to irritablely wake him up. That one day, however, Sasuke was glad it happened.

"If you have an idea in mind, don't." he grumbled, before sitting down on his bed in order to see his older brother with a bucket of water in his hands, a few step away from him.

"You shouldn't even be awake right now!" the older man with long black hair moaned, putting down the bucket.

"And I am totally glad that I am." Sasuke yawned, looking at the clock - 6.57am. "Any reason for that prank or should I kill you already?"

"Aw, you look like a kitten when you just wake up." Itachi teased, not taking any threat seriously. "Ready for that long, long day?"

"Don't ask stupid things in the morning." Sasuke rubbed his eyes, but the second that followed, he felt the cold water flowing on his pale skin.

"ITACHI" Sasuke yelled but it was too late, his brother was gone from his room, laughing in the coridor, letting the empty bucket on his bed.

Sasuke kicked the freaking bucket and got up, all wet, feeling the cold on every single inch of his body. Itachi was going to pay for it. He better not sleep on the following weeks if he wanted to make it out alive. He removed his clothes without a single look at the opened door and headed to the bathroom to take a hot shower when he still could - he liked the heat on his muscles, and he prefered it ways more than this cold idea of a joke Itachi made him suffer into. Pressing a hand into his black hair, Sasuke was trying to erase any remaining of the cold water that was still, sometimes spinning on his neck. The day was going to be rought, and he sure didn't need those stupid ideas that early in the morning. When he had enough of the heat, he came out of the shower and prepared his clothes - basically all black ones. When he was ready, he put his holster on his belt and put his semi-automatic gun in, took then some bullet magazine suplies that he put in a pocket easy to reach. He hid a knife on his leg, under his pants. It was enough for now, and if he needed more weapon before the time to come, he will add them.

He headed out of his room, longing the coridors of the house to the living room. In there, he could find Itachi, his older brother, with a smile still on his lips, taking his coffee alone at the table.

"Where is everyone?" Sasuke asked, aheading to prepare himself a coffee as well. "

Busy day for everyone." Itachi said happily. "Did you enjoy the shower?"

"Go fuck yourself." Sasuke replied.

"Ah man, this is not how men of honor should talk." Itachi teased.

"And they should never claim to be men of honor." Sasuke was icy. "It seems none of us play with the rules anyway."

Itachi shurgged and laid on the back of his chair, taking a yawn. He mustn't have slept much. Sasuke would almost feel pity if Itachi hadn't decided to throw water at him in the morning.

"What was your deal yesterday?" Sasuke asked, mostly curious, going back at the table with his bitter coffee in hand.

"Something that ended up late." Itachi rubbed his neck. "They didn't want to listen most of the conversation and it was hard to make them shut up."

"You didn't kill them, did you?"

"I know the rules better than you do." Itachi rubbed his temples. "No killing if you can avoid it, and I could."

Sasuke nodded and started to drink his coffee. It wasn't rare for those kind of negotiation to take some times, but it was always surprising to see that his brother was the one that allowed it to happen. Itachi was always the one that dealt with everything easily.

"So, ready for tonight?" Itachi teased.

"I already did that before." Sasuke sighed. "There is nothing to worry about."

"I know that, I wondered if you were going to wear your prettiest suit for them or not." Itachi joked and Sasuke kicked him under the table. Why couldn't Itachi be serious about it for one second?

When his coffee was done drinking, Sasuke prepared himself a toast with some jam on it and got up from his chair. "I have stuffs to do before," he told his brother. "Is Juugo disponible?"

"You know he is." Itachi shurgged. "He wouldn't leave your side even if you shot him in the head." Then Itachi frowned. "When did you start eating toast with j-"

He was interrupted when Sasuke came next to him and stuck the toast in his brother's hair. He headed toward the door while Itachi was swearing. Revenge has been done.

Sasuke Uchiha was 23 years old, ways too young for the job, they said, but coming from the Uchiha's head family gives some adventages. He was a nice shot, he barely missed his target, and none of his deals ever turned wrong. He was quiet, no one ever knew what he was doing. People already feared him. Some whispered that the fear of his big brother was the reason, others was already seeing Sasuke for what he was: a threat.

That was how the mafia worked, somehow. None of them would call it this way, though, some remaining of the era of the Cosa Nostra, the Golden Ages, was still forbidding some parts of their lifestyle. First rule, never call a mafia a mafia. They were a Family, an organisated Family at least, they wouldn't use such vulgar slang. Second, they weren't part of a mafia, they were part of a family, and between differents families, they were Men Of Honor, even if none of them was allowed to call themselves this way. The Third Rule was that any member of a Family should be able to kill a man without feeling any remorse nor hesitation.

Those three rules were the only ones remaining from the Cosa Nostra in all the Families. The others rules came and went with times in each Families, to the point even calling them Mafia or member of the Cosa Nostra was a lie. This city, this country had different rules to play with. They couldn't stay in those ages for ever.

From all the families down here, the Uchiha could be proud to be the most influencial one, yet the least visible one. Unlike many others families, the police didn't even suspect their actions yet, while they were doing everything to control anything that was going on in every others families. The legacy of the Uchiha was important. Sasuke was the heir of this legacy, just as his brother. But none of them were taking the biggest decisions yet - their uncle Madara was the one at the top, their cousin Obito dealt with many things. But Itachi and Sasuke were the sons of Fugaku and Mikoto Uchiha, two members of the main Family. After the murder of those two, Madara took the head, waiting for the two boys to be old enough to rule as they should. As strong as Itachi and Sasuke were, none of them could aspire to the head yet. They were still too young, too inexperienced. But one day it would be theirs. There were no doubt on that matter.

The allies - no, brothers - of their Family were numberous. They had a lot of handmen, of people they could trust into doing the job. The worst ofcourse, was to control all the others families - there were a tone of them, all trying to control the city by the worst means. Some trying to rip away the Uchiha's legacy. They always had to watch them, to be sure no one would try to take their places.

It had been a rough life since forever. If as a child, Sasuke could grow up as a normal kid despite his affiliations with all of it, after his parents' death when he as a teen, he had no others choices but to suck it up and realize what a delicate position he was in.

Today was another of those days where he realized it. But somehow he wished it wasn't.

* * *

"Are you okay sir?" Juugo asked from the driver seat.

"Hn." Sasuke answered from the backseat, putting his forehead on the window.

He couldn't believe the day had been that long. He had the feeling he ran everywhere in the city, he didn't even have the time to eat. He knew the day was going to be busy, but now that the sun started to go down, he realized how heavy it had been. Juugo was probably worried, but to be fair, he always was. He was one of the most loyal handmen Sasuke could have, and by far the least noisy. He didn't ask much question, he always stuck to the minimum, and he was always effective in his actions. When days had to be long like that, Sasuke prefered to spend it with Juugo - since he shouldn't go alone anywhere anyway.

They had to go in an old port, which activities almost stopped with the years and only a few deliveries were managing their ways to the port. Some of the deliveries were done for some of the others families. In order to keep controle, the Uchiha always had to watch over it. Usually a handman would be enough, but this time, it was to Sasuke's to go and check out how it went on.

The delivery seemed to be some drugs they intended to sell on the territory. Sasuke didn't care. It was this family's buisness and Sasuke had no reason to go against this. As long as each family could do what they always did, the peace between the families was safe.

Seeing the sea from his window, Sasuke raised his head and checked his weapons. He put a gun into a holster under his long leather jacket, and one into another one at his belt. There were no reasons to think the other family would attack him, but they were never careful enough. After a casual checking of what he needed, he stepped out of the car when this one stopped. Juugo followed him right away, and they were welcomed by a white haired member of their family.

"Here you are boss." Suigetsu smirked coming at them, insisting on this last word like a joke. "You are almost late."

"Save me the talk." Sasuke sighed. "Where are they?"

"By the hangar." Suigetsu showed up the direction with a chin move. "The delivery shouldn't be long now."

Sasuke nodded and headed toward the hanger, Suigetsu and Juugo following him. The sun was still going down, reflecting its last rays on the waves from the sea. A boat could enter the port at any moment, even with the few lights. When they finally got to the hangar, They were welcomed by a group of five people. Sasuke put his hands in his pockets as he was coming closer. One of the guy, with a lot of scar, stepped to hold Sasuke's hand.

"So you came." the man with a deep voice said.

"My pleasure." Sasuke answered, irritated by the intinuation he may have not come. "When should the delivery arrive?"

"Soon enough, little boss." the man railed and Sasuke grinded his teeth with annoyance. The man wasn't taking him seriously because he was too young. Something Sasuke was used to, but in the same time was still making him angry. He may be young, he was still the heir of his family. But bragging about it wasn't safe, not here.

"So this is Kakuzu right?" he heard Suigetsu whispers to Juugo behind him and he then heard Juugo hit him.

"Don't say the names when we're out the open!" Juugo hissed at him. "Don't you know the rules?"

Suigetsu was grumbling apologizes and Sasuke looked at the sea, waiting for the boat to come. "How much will you recieve?" He asked.

"Many boxes." Kakuzu answered. "Twenty if everything goes right."

Sasuke nodded, and shut up after that, listening carefully to the sounds of the waves, or any sounds, at all.

"Are you sure no one knows about this delivery?" Sasuke asked after a moment.

"Sure." Kakuzu replied. "We took care of it."

"You didn't take care of the rats."

Kakuzu frowned at him, but Sasuke could see Juugo and Suigetsu tensing, passing their hands on their guns.

"Rats?"

"One actually." Sasuke turned slowly to some boxes, a few feets away from them.

He pointed the boxes with his look to Juugo and Suigetsu and they immediatly prepared their guns to move toward this place. When they arrived near the boxes and pointed at it with their guns, Sasuke could see them frown from where they were, and Suigetsu turned to him, shurging. Sasuke took his own gun out and stepped toward the boxes as well.

"Where are you going?" Kakuzu asked, seeing him move.

"Doing your job." Sasuke replied. "Taking care of it."

He ordered silently to Juugo to go on the hangar, and Suigetsu to look over the cost, while he was going deeper in the port. They obeyed without a single sound and they moved this way.

Sasuke knew he heard something. It was a clear noise from someone who didn't know how to cover his traces. Yet, now, this person was being careful to not be seen. Clever, Sasuke would think, but there is no way this person escape without being noticed. He was going to find him.

He moved between the boats on earth, the diverse boxes, taking care of every movement. He was attentive to any sounds other than the waves crushing. The rays of the sun were gone now. Only the lights of the city and of the moon was illuminating the discording mess, but the moon was full and bright, which made it easier for Sasuke to find than for the person to hide. He was sure than the person who was hiding wasn't a killer - so probably not another family - because a killer, more importantly, someone of another family, would hide himself better, and Sasuke could casually hear the person move. He was in the right direction.

The more he was moving, the more he could hear moving, the person was probably panicking. Great. Sasuke removed the security of his gun, coming closer from the noise. Just here. Just right here. He couldn't hide anymore. He found him. Sasuke turned at the corner of the boat, pointing his gun at the man hiding behind. He hesited for one second to shoot and it was the only second the other needed to kick his gun hand. Sasuke lost the gun in the surprise, avoided a punch from the other man and caught it, using then his weight to force him on the ground. The other moaned in pain but he didn't let Sasuke the time to react, as he brought Sasuke to the ground, took the lost gun and put himself quickly on top of Sasuke, but not quick enough. Sasuke managed to take his second gun and pointed it on the other one's face, just as the other was doing it with him, and they stayed like that, breathing heavily - none of them pulled the trigger.

Sasuke didn't take the time to see the face of the man before they ended up in this position. Yet he did this mistake - he looked at the other one's face before thinking at pulling the trigger. Those blond hair were raining like ray of sunshine over his face, covering those blue eyes so clear, full of light, and those scars on his cheeks. Scars that Sasuke once knew. On a face that Sasuke once knew.

"Naruto?" the name came on his lips like a bittersweet memory, with a taste he only remembered now. He watched as the blue eyes went wilde, looking at him in surprise before whispering:"S-Sasuke?"

Sasuke's heart missed a beating. Oh fuck. No. No no no that was _no good_. _Why the fuck_ was he here? What the fuck was he doing here _in the first place_?! It was not his place, it was not where he should be it was not where Sasuke expected to see him. Sasuke couldn't let anyone know who he was and that he was hanging around with others families. What the fuck _no_. Naruto seemed lost and it was sure he didn't except that - it was sure he wouldn't pull the trigger. Sasuke should pull it - pull it _now_. He couldn't let him live. He _couldn't_. It was a rule.

"Why the fuck are you here?!" Sasuke hissed. "From all place, you..."

"What do YOU do here?!" Naruto replied, confused. "Are you with them?!"

He knew. Sasuke should kill him right away. How did this little noisy Naruto he knew when he was a teen knew about all of it? It wasn't right. It wasn't right!

"BOSS?" he heard Suigetsu scream. "BOSS!"

Naruto raised his head in confusion, then looked at Sasuke, even more lost than he already looked already. If Suigetsu saw them in this position he would kill him. That was no good. _No good_. Sasuke pulled Naruto's arms to bring him down and hid him near the boat. Naruto didn't react much, his eyes seemed _so lost._ Sasuke wouldn't have expect to see this on his face. Not like that. And certainly not in this circonstances.

"Hide and Go away!" Sasuke hissed at him, trying to keep him hidden.

"S-Sasuke..." Naruto began but Sasuke cut him off "Go away now!"

Sasuke's heart missed a beat as Naruto clumsily but quickly got away. And Sasuke acted as quickly - he couldn't let his thoughts react at the moment. If he did, Naruto was dead. Naruto _should_ be dead. But yet everything screamed to his body to give him time to get away. Sasuke got up and almost ran between the empty boats - he wished Naruto ran away. When he found back Suigetsu - far enough from where he left Naruto - he was relieved.

"Hey!" he called out and the white haired man saw him and came at him. "Didn't find anything from where I was! You? "

"Neither did I," Sasuke lied. "Juugo?"

"I didn't see with him yet." Suigetsu bit his lip. "Do you think it will mean trouble?"

_Definitly_, Sasuke bitterly thought.

_It definitly means trouble._

* * *

**Author's note: *sings slightly* Exposition, Exposition, lalalala laaa lala**

**Okay yeah you would have guessed this chapter isn't that important, but I needed it to introduce the Mafia and even here I am not quite proud. Anyway, there was something I wanted to make sure about: Yes, they knew each other, but they were never a relationship. As you will wait a bit before chapter 2 where everything is explained, I wanted to be sure about it. **

**The feelings they will have for one another will be developped in the fanfic. They may know each other but that's not the important part of all of it. **

**I think it's the only thing I need to say? **

**Don't hesitate to tell me how you felt about it, if you liked it or not. I hope you at least enjoyed it, and well, if everything goes right, you'll enjoy better the following chapters. **

**Send you all a lot of loves **

**Milley**


	2. 2 - We Used to be Friends

_Hello everyone! _

_So this is it, the second chapter is over and DEAR GOD I didn't see the end of it! I didn't expect it to be that long to be honest! Well, actually, I thought about cuting it earlier, but then I thought to myself that if I wanted to stay alive, it was better to not cut where I almost did. _

_Anyway, thanks again to Letsusura, for her love and support (and horrible management skill consisting in asking me every two damn minutes to write my fic and send me a letter to tell me to write my fic - I'm not even joking here, she really did that (alongside cute words I won't give away))_

_And thank you to Cary99, Killua17, Tetsu and Misaki for your reviews! Those really made me feel happy and boosted me to write, so thank you a lot, and I hope the rest of the fic won't disappoint you!_

_Warning: Still some troubles with the english, I still apologize T_T Huh, I don't really know what to say here? Good luck reading all that, and I hope you'll enjoy yourself!_

_See you next chapter!_

* * *

**2 - We used to be friend**

* * *

When the clock ticked until 5am and that Sasuke couldn't find himself to sleep, he gave up. He stood up of his bed and directed himself to the window, opened the broken shutters carefully, and watched the clear night. The sun wasn't meant to come up before a few hours, but the sky was clearer than when Sasuke came back home after the delivery, and clearer than Sasuke's state of mind since then. Never has he ever screw up a mission like that. It should have been easy, as easy as the other times it happened. They would have to intimidate the person who spied on them, ask them why they spied on them, and if he wasn't trusted, or if he knew the identity of one of them, they had to kill him Sasuke didn't do any of it. He let him go. He should have killed him and he let him go. He knew him. He heard Suigetsu calling him Boss. If he spoke, the whole family could go down. He should have killed him.

Sasuke put his hand on his face, trying to enjoy the wind but only finding himself to hate it more and more. He never thought he would see him again, and never under those circonstances. He was part of his past, and Sasuke wouldn't have believed it would influence his present too. Naruto. Even thinking about his name sounded strange after all those years. They used to know each others, when Sasuke was still allowed to have a normal life out of the Family, before his parents died. They were 11 when they met at school, and they had been into the same class for three years before Sasuke started to be homeschooled. It was a schoolmate. No more, no less. And yet finding those blue eyes made it impossible for Sasuke to shoot.

What could have happened in Naruto's life to be on that port that night? Sasuke wished he'd know. If people would have told him that when they were younger, Sasuke wouldn't have believe it. The noisy, clumsy, scaredy Naruto, spying on the Mafias? That sounded like the begining of a bad joke that Naruto would have said back in the days. Sasuke turned his back to the window and looked at his computer, not far from here. The internet was full of informations after all. Maybe could he find some answers?

It wasn't that Sasuke cared about Naruto - it's been so long that he doubted he would manage to feel that kind of feeling toward him. But he cared about his family. If Naruto happened to be a threat -even if Sasuke wasn't really believing in that- Sasuke would have fucked up his whole family pretty badly just by letting him live. Sasuke grinted his teeth. He let him live. Without knowing anything about him, just because of a dumb nostalgia. He hated it. Sasuke moved his way to his computer, sat on his chair and turned it on. He waited patiently until he could open internet and starts his researches.

What was his full name already?

Sasuke leant on the back of his chair, biting furiously his lip. _Try to remember,_ he told himself. _If you remember him enough to let him live, you must remember his name_. He tortured himself for a few minutes.

Naruto was always after him when they called the names in the begining of the day, and he was often next to him when the teachers forced the people to sit by their names. Naruto was always noisy when it happened. He always tried to joke with Sasuke when Sasuke tried to listen the lesson, and Naruto would always pout if Sasuke told him to fuck off. But then he would be annoying again, telling a lot of things Sasuke didn't care about, or then insulting Sasuke for being a senseless bastard.

_If I was, I wouldn't have let you live tonight,_ Sasuke thought bitterly.

It was hard to remember. The more Sasuke digged, the more some anecdotes came back into his mind; mostly all the ideas of a joke that Naruto had with time, or how he was always throwing up stupid things like he would be better than Sasuke at anything. He was an idiot, Sasuke thought. He probably didn't change much if he came to think it was a good idea to spy on the mafia. How was he still alive if he was doing stuffs like that?

Naruto was always bragging about anything. He talked a lot about his nanny-slash-tutor Iruka that was always bringing him to places, like Ramen's restaurents. He talked a lot about how he loved Ramen, that one of the ingredient was named after him - _he was named after a Ramen ingredient, poor thing,_ Sasuke added in his mind - and that it was even funnier because this ingredient was also the shape his last name was made of, a spiral in a whirl.

Uzumaki.

Sasuke's eyes went wilde before he leant back on the computer to type it. He couldn't believe he remembered that much of things Naruto used to tell him. The only reason Sasuke remembered his last name was because of a Ramen's conversation Naruto tried to have with him. That was dumb. And what was even dumber was that Sasuke remembered this conversation and not more concrete things like his name.

By typing his name, the first thing he found was his Facebook account. Sasuke hesited to click on it, but then tried to focuse. He didn't want to learn about his private life, he wanted to know why he was on the port that day, and he couldn't see Naruto bragging about it on his Facebook wall. Or he could, but even him would believe that a 23 years old Naruto wasn't that stupid. He gave up on that idea and tried to look for something else, like a CV. Nowadays, it was easier to find those on the internet - and Sasuke knew how and where to look for it.

After a few minutes of digging, Sasuke finally found something, a pdf that he cracked from a website he didn't care about. It seemed to be a bit old, at least one year old, but it would be enough. Sasuke tried not to care about the picture - as soon as he saw the scars on the cheeks, he knew he found the right guy - and focused on the others informations. Naruto lived near to the center of the city, if we believed his adress on the top. He was not hiding much, for someone putting himself on trouble that easily. Sasuke tried to focuse on the rest, and the more his reading was going on, the more he found himself staring at the screen.

"Master in a Criminal Sciences School." Sasuke read, mouthing. "Practicing in Police school."

Sasuke put his hand on his face, feeling like all the blood that once lived in his face was gone.

_They got to be kidding me._

* * *

Naruto didn't sleep well that night. He was sure he at least got numberous nightmares, and his back was a real pain with him. When he woke up at 7am, he had the feeling he didn't sleep at all, which was frustrating. He tried to woke himself up as much as he could and tried to stand up, but his red old cat was sat on his legs and was forbidding him to move. Naruto grumbled.

"That's not the moment for cuddling Kurama." Naruto yawned, and the cat meowed in return. "If you're hungry let me get up." Naruto answered like he understood him.

The cat looked at him with his big eyes before letting go of his master's legs. Naruto dizzilly got out of his bed, and seeing the cat waiting for him at the door, he knew his first preoccupation should be to feed him. Naruto rolled his eyes and went out of his room to go to the little open kitchen. He took his cat's bowl and filled it with dry cat food before putting it on the ground near Kurama. The red old cat looked at the food with a bad eyes and had a sinister growling. Naruto smiled and put himself on his knees to caress Kurama's head.

"You've been sick last time I gave you regular cat food, y'know what the doc said." he talked. "Dry cat food for two weeks, buddy."

If it wasn't likely that the cat understood, Naruto was sure of he did, since Kurama leant over his bowl to eat it. The blond man stayed a few minutes next to his cat, caressing his head watching him eat, before getting up and preparing himself a coffee with sugars. He sat on the workspace of his kitchen to drink it, lost in his thoughts.

He still didn't know what happened the day before. Some part of him believed it was one of his nightmares, and he was kin to believe in that. He didn't want to think about that. He didn't want to believe it happened. He needed a hot shower. He picked an eye at his clock - 7.15am - and put his empty cup of coffee next the coffee maker, before moving his ways to the little bathroom. His flat was small, but for him and his cat, it was all they needed. Once he arrived the bathroom, he removed his pijama and checked the bruise on his back. It wasn't much the bruise that hurt than to think about what provocked this bruise.

Wasn't it the evidence it was real? Like painfully real?

Naruto shook his head and went into the shower. The hot water was good for every of his muscles. Who's brilliant idea was that to go to the port just to take informations? Naruto should get a raise. He almost got caught. The only reason he escaped was...

_Yeah nah, better not think about it._ Naruto forced himself to erase this idea from his brain and enjoy the shower that he deserved. He enjoyed simple pleasures like that. When he came out of the shower, and finally got away from the pounding noise of his shower, he heard something knocking at the main door. Frowning, he put a towel around his waist and came out of the bathroom, another towel rubbing his hair in his hands. When he opened the door, he was slightly surprised to see his pale, dark haired team-mate.

"Sai?" Naruto asked. "What are you doing here that early?"

"You asked me to come to pick you up this morning, yesterday evening." his comrade smiled. "Did you forget again?"

Naruto grumbled something and let him in. He probably called before going to the port, just in case something happened to him. It was something him and Sai used to do when they went separated to investigate on things, as they could never know if they will both come back.

"Make yourself a home." Naruto welcomed. "Sorry I just got out of shower."

"I guessed that already." Sai answered and Naruto already wanted to hit him.

Not that his relationship with Sai was bad - quite the contrary actually, they worked together for one full year now - but Sai had this kind of social awkwardness which brought him to always find a way to piss people off. However, when Sai stopped commenting on Naruto's penis whenever he had the occasion, Naruto could find something to like in the guy, that it seemed not a lot of people saw. And he sure made a good partner when they had to work, as he was always effective and as he basically had trouble to feel things like a normal human being, he was doing just good as a cop.

Nevertheless, it didn't stop the urge Naruto had to hit him by moments. He came back into his bedroom to take his clothes - blue jeans and a black t-shirt, with his usual blue necklace his godmother gave to him - and dressing up just as he was screaming.

"I'm gonna eat with Sakura-chan at lunch." as he was putting on his t-shirt he came back in the living room. "So I won't be able to eat with you and Yamato."

"No problem." Sai answered, sat on the sofa. "Tell her I say Hi."

"Roger that." Naruto smiled and then headed to his kitchen. "Coffee?"

"I wouldn't mind that." Sai stood up and followed Naruto.

On the road, they found out Kurama that was watching some flies in the kitchen, which made his master smile. Naruto passed next to him to caress his head before going to the coffee maker, and he saw with the corner of his eyes that Sai tried to do the same; but Kurama the evil cat striked again when he attacked Sai's hand.

"Your cat really doesn't like me." Sai said calmly, putting his injuried hand to his face to watch the damages.

"Most people doesn't like you." Naruto joked, preparing two cups. "Must be the smile, it freaks people out."

Sai frowned. "Really? I thought it was rather good to smile if you want to get f-"

"Sai, it was a joke." Naruto rolled his eyes. "Didn't you learn the basic human interraction named humor yet?"

"I know humor." Sai answered.

"The humor Sakura teaches you is not humor, it's even lamer than my jokes."

Sai rubbed his neck and Naruto gave him his cup of coffee. Of all people Sai offended, Sakura and Naruto must had been the only one to bear with it. It would be mean, but sadly true to say they were the only real friends Sai had.

"To this new day of being alive and not killed yet." Naruto raised his cup before putting sugars into it.

"That's also a joke, right?" Sai frowned.

"Good, you're learning."

Sai had a faint smile and they both drank their cups. There was a silence for a moment, until Sai asked.

"So are you going to tell me about what you've found out yesterday?"

"Not much we didn't already know." Naruto tried to cover up how unease he was. "This was a drug delivery. I don't know how much they expected though."

"That's all?" Sai raised an eyebrow. "You didn't find out anything? How many they were? A name, or something?"

Naruto felt his lips twitching and he put his cup in front of his mouth to hide it. "Half a dozen at least." he heard himself lie and he didn't even feel like he was recognizing his own voice. "The only name I got was Kakuzu, but I don't know who he was."

And _Sasuke_. Naruto finished his cup of coffee and turned his back on Sai to wash it. Sai sure had problem with human emotions, but he wasn't dumb enough to be cheated into lying right at his face. And Naruto was silently insulting himself for lying. Sai and him were part of a special police section which purpose was to track informations on the mafias in order to controle their actions - and trying to shut them down if possible. Sadly this country, and mostly this city, had a lot of them going around. And it wasn't easy to deal with so many different groups with different motives. They were hard to find, yet the criminality they were commiting was still raising. Each time they went on the field, their lives were on the track. This feeling never really bothered Naruto until this last day. Somehow, in his mind, it was always the ennemies and them. He always thought that was it, two parts fighting or whatever.

But... _Sasuke_...?

Naruto wasn't feeling well about it, no matter how he tried to not think about it. He knew Sasuke, when they were younger. They were friends. Or so Naruto thought so. Sasuke always had been distant, but to think he belonged to a mafia's family? Hell, he had been called Boss. Naruto didn't know much about how those families worked - if they knew they wouldn't have that much problems to find them - but he couldn't believe Sasuke, from all people, ended up in a mafia's family, nor even that he would gain enough popularity to be called Boss.

When did Sasuke start being with them? Sasuke, part of a mafia. Even Naruto wouldn't do those sick jokes. He still didn't understand fully what happened, it had been too quick. Sasuke spared his life, there was no doubt about it. But why? This made no sense. No freaking sense.

"We're going to be late." Sai said and it brought Naruto back to reality. "Kakashi's waiting for your whole report on that matter."

"Heh, you say that like I didn't know!" Naruto replied, trying to relax.

Sai rolled his eyes and Naruto smiled. He rubbed his cat's head one second and went take his jacket - a black coat with white fake furr around the hoodie - and him and Sai left the flat.

* * *

She was late. The sun was burning hot and Naruto was waiting near the hospital. He finished his works on the morning a bit earlier than expected, and Kakashi Hatake, his supperior, bought all his lies about the delivery that happened the last day - how he couldn't see much, only heard one name, and managed to escape before being noticed but then missing the delivery's arrival. The more those lies were spinning in his head, the more Naruto wondered why he was protecting Him. It has been like, Ten years or such since they last talked and saw each other. And they didn't really part friends. But yet, as Naruto wondered why, he wondered what would have happened if he didn't protect Him - and the only thought of it made him sick in his stomach.

"NARUTO!" a feminine voice called him out of his thoughts, and he raised his head to see the girl with pink hair running toward him.

"Sakura!" he smiled and hugged her when she arrived near him. "It's been so long!"

"Woah I wouldn't except you to miss me that much." she joked as she quickly hugged him back.

"I didn't miss you I missed your invitations for free food."

She hit his arm and he laughed."Don't think I will pay for you, asshole." she laughed. "Sorry though, I don't have much time." she looked at her watch and sighed. "The guys at the hospital are sadistic. They weren't going to let me leave if I didn't threaten them to make them end up in a hospital bed if they didn't let me go."

Naruto laughed. "There is a pizzaria not far from here. I heard they were quick and tasty, let's go there then."

"You know how to speak to me, young man." she smiled and they both headed to the restaurant, talking about diverse things here and there. S

akura and him knew each others since they were 11, as they were in the same classes for a few years, but they really started to talk to each others around their 15. Naruto used to have a crush on her, when they were young, and nowadays it sounded like one of the most stupidest thing he ever felt. When he got ride of this crush, he found in her one of his best friends ever. When high school was over, she started to study medicine, being accepted in one of the greatest school ever. She was clever and she worked hard. It's been one year now that she was an intern at the hospital, and she liked it, even if it was stealing most of her time.

They talked a lot on the way to the restaurent, as she asked for news of their group of friends. She barely had the time to see anyone those last weeks. When they arrived to the restaurent, they commanded quickly and continued talking.

"... So basically Kiba said he's busy all the time because of work." Naruto said at some point. "Yet he did himself another tatoo. I swear to god we can't see his arms anymore at this point."

"Don't blame him." Sakura laughed. "At least it's not some stupid tatoo or.."

"He tatooed himself the Ketchup logo right here." he showed his forearm. "I told him he wouldn't find a girlfriend with that and he laughed right at my face. I mean com'on would you date a guy with a Ketchup tatoo?"

Sakura chuckled. "I wouldn't date Kiba, with or without tatoo anyway. But I know girls who would."

"You girls always have strange taste in boys." Naruto shook his head.

"We need those strange tastes, otherwise no girl would want to date you." she teased and Naruto faked being offenced. "That's harsh!"

"I'm kidding, you know that!" she pushed his arm and he laughed.

The pizzas arrived and they started eating quietly, enjoying their meals. Naruto thought it was rather funny to see Sakura's face displaying so much pleasure. She must have eaten so much junk or terribe food at the hospital those last weeks.

"Hey, Sakura..." Naruto heard himself say at some point. "Do you remember Sasuke Uchiha?"

Sakura raised her head and looked at him with big surprised eyes. She even almost sounded anxious.

"Why?" she asked quite quickly.

"Woah, what's with that reaction?" Naruto tried to joke out of it. "I just found back some old pictures lately, so..."

Ofcourse he was lying, but it was enough for her to rub her neck and sigh in relief. "Oh."

"Oh?"

"Yeah, oh." she replied, focusing on eating. "We were talking about dating, so I was surprised that you brought him up. I used to have a crush on him so I thought you were trying to pull a joke at me."

"You had a crush on him?" Naruto raised his eyebrows as he watched her turning pink. "Oh that's right! You were following him everywhere trying to get friend with him! I remember now!"

"Oh shut up!" she covered her face. "He was cute, and I was young and sensitive! And must I recall you, that you used to follow him everywhere as well?"

"Man I didn't do that!" Naruto defended himself.

"Ofcourse you did!" Sakura rolled her eyes. "He was with you all the time, it was driving me nuts, I couldn't even talk to him without you to be around!"

"Really?" Naruto asked, surprised. "I don't know, I remembered that he was always avoiding or ignoring me."

"Are you kidding, for people who were avoiding and ignoring each other, you were stuck together all the time. Everyone was jealous of you, you know that? You were the only one he wasn't throwing away when you came to talk to him. People wondered how you did that."

"I really don't remember that." Naruto laughed, yet feeling a bit unwell about that. Did they really use to be that close?

"You probably didn't notice that." she laughed. "You were always complaining he wasn't giving you much attention, I don't even think you noticed he gave you more attention than to anyone else. Hell yeah, that was annoying! Everyone was wondering why you from all people would get his attention, you know? You were like the noisy clumsy annoying kid that was pranking on the teachers, and yet you managed to hang around the quiet smart Sasuke I-m-trying-to-be-invisible-but-I-m-too-hot-to-manage-that Uchiha!"

"Now it is making me uncomfortable!" Naruto joked.

"Those are facts." Sakura stated, taking her glass of water. "True Story Bro."

"Yeah, but he wasn't that hot, was he?"

"Are you kidding?" Sakura snickered. "He probably became one hell of a man seeing how hot he was if you want my view on that matter. Hell I wouldn't be surprised if he had tone of girls in his bed just right now as we speak."

"Geez, thanks for the mental pictures." Naruto looked at her, jadded, as she started to laugh. "What do you think he became now?" he then asked.

"I really don't know." Sakura sighed, shurging. "From all people I would have expected you to know, I mean you probably kept contact with him after -"

"We didn't." Naruto cut her off. "We didn't keep contact."

She blinked, looking at him, and he felt his lips twitching. He pushed his unfinished pizza out of sight and put his crossed arms on the table, in which he put his chin after that.

"He didn't even tell me that he left." he continued. "Just one day, he stopped coming at school. People said he moved out, and when I tried to call him, they said his phone number wasn't operating anymore."

".. That's why you didn't talk about him for all those years." Sakura realized. "I'm sorry."

Naruto shurged and raised his head, faking a smile. "I'm the one who brought up the conversation, don't worry about that."

"You never tried to find him again?"

He shurged again. "He didn't want to be found. This would have been useless."

Actually, Naruto tried. Multiple times, actually, until he possibly gave up. Each time he got a lead on Him, it just lead nowhere. This man didn't even have a Facebook, who didn't have a facebook nowadays?! At some point, he just stopped looking for Him. He was gone. He left him. He didn't tell him anything, wasn't it the proof He didn't care much? And if he found him again, what would he have told Him? "Hello remember me I'm the guy you didn't even care enough about to tell him you were leaving."? At some point it just made no sense anymore to look for Him. So why now? Why finding Him again now? What should he even do about it? Should he keep it for himself? Or tell everyone he knew a guy from the mafia? What was coming next?

For the first time, in a long time, Naruto just didn't know.

* * *

They couldn't share more than half a hour of lunch time before Sakura's phone started ringing like crazy until she came back to the hospital. Naruto shared the trip back to the hospital with her, and she left after kissing him on the cheek. He still had time before going back to his workplace, so he wandered around for a bit, trying to clean his head from the memories of middle school and of what happened the day before. He wanted to believe it was over. That he wouldn't have to face this anymore. Part of him wanted to see Him again, trying to understand what He became, but the raisonable part of Naruto was screaming to let go of Him. Nothing good could come out of seeing Him again, Naruto was sure of it. Yet, he could still find a little sparkle of hope, deep down in his thoughts.

When he came back to work, he didn't have the time to think about it. This was probably the reason Kakashi let him leave earlier this morning, because he sure gave too much work in one sight to Sai and Naruto. They had to check the archives, fill up their data, doing research on the most active places of criminality suspected to be mafia's related and so, so much others works. At the end of the day, Naruto barely felt any of his muscles, and his back hurt more than ever. On the other hand, Sai handled it pretty well, but as Naruto liked to recall himself, Sai wasn't human, especially regarding work. When 8pm came, Naruto didn't finish half of his job and was litteraly dying in front of his computer. Sai showed off some social decency however, by proposing Naruto a ride home, that the blond accepted right away. Naruto may have his licence but he didn't have a car, and he couldn't park it if he did, so he was used to do everything by feet, especially since his workplace was 15 minutes from his home by feet.

In the car, Naruto mostly complained about the tone of works, which was making Sai chuckle - _this bastard only laugh at my misery, why is he my friend already_ - until, a few minutes later, they arrived in front of the of the residence.

"Thank you man!" Naruto said while getting out of the car, but staying bent to talk to Sai. "I'll repay it to you, whenever you need!"

"Then I guess you can do my data for tomorrow?"

"W-Hey, no, that is not fair!"

Sai chuckled a bit. "Was it a fun joke,Naruto?"

"Man, I'm going to kill you, y'know." Naruto couldn't help but slightly laught. "You really need to learn better jokes."

Sai rolled his eyes. "See you tomorrow at work, Naruto."

"Yeah, yeah, See ya." Naruto closed the door and waved, while Sai started the car again to go away.

Naruto watched him go, putting his hands in his jacket, appreciating the slight wind of the end of the day. He planned to take a hell of a shower, to burn his skin and get ride of all the pain of working that hard. Then he would prepare himself some Ramen, and he would eat it watching a TV show, cuddling Kurama if the old evil cat wanted it. Yeah, it sounded like a wonderful plan.

He turned to go toward the glass doors of the residence's hall but he froze when his eyes fell on a tall handsome man, dressed with a long black leather jacket, with black hair, black eyes, and a pale skin, whoes back was leant over the wall near the doors. As He saw him coming, the man moved some steps toward him, and Naruto felt like it his legs weren't responding anymore.

What the hell was Sasuke Uchiha doing at his doorstep?!

* * *

Sasuke cursed himself all day long. He couldn't focuse during the meetings with his uncle, he couldn't focuse when they had to train, he couldn't even focuse when his brother bread his hair at some point to annoy him in front of Suigetsu and Juugo. All day long, the only thing Sasuke could think of was how much of an idiot he was by letting Naruto go.

Somehow Sasuke wished it was something easy - like, Naruto becoming a reporter. Reporters were easy to intimidate. Or just Naruto being around at the bad timing. But nope. He had to work for the freaking Police. Oh right, his CV only said he studied it, but Sasuke couldn't let the information like that, he had to dig more. He knew a hacker named "Byakugan" that could help him and that wasn't related to the family, so he went to see him during the day, wishing really hard the result wouldn't be what he feared. And it was. Hacking in the Police Service Data wasn't easy, and they couldn't afford to do that a lot, or they would be spotted right away. But looking for one single piece of information? A piece of cake, the hacker said, giving him the data about Naruto freaking Uzumaki, working for one year now under the Police Section which was watching the Mafias.

This couldn't be fucking better. Sasuke spared the life of a cop. No, not only a cop, a fucking cop who worked directly against them and who used to know him. The more the day passed, the more Sasuke was anxious. And the worst part? The worst part is that Sasuke was glad he saw a hacker from the outside and not from the family so he could keep it secret, and his preoccupation wasn't to protect himself at this point. He should do something about it. He couldn't do like he knew nothing at all. Even if this something was to kill Naruto, he had to do it. Something, whatever.

When he finished all the tasks he had to do for the day, Sasuke called up Juugo to drive him in the city. He was the only one Sasuke trusted about it. It was 7.45pm when they arrived in front of the residence Sasuke was looking for.

"Any reason for us to be here?" Juugo asked him as he parked.

"Something that isn't related to the family." Sasuke answered. "I need you to not tell anybody."

"Got it." Juugo nodded, turning to see him. "Nothing of import I hope?"

"Yeah, I hope too." Sasuke sighed and looked at the papers he printed to do a folder.

Believing his CV and his data, Naruto lived here. If so, it meant Naruto was idiot enough to leave his adress out of the open. How wasn't he dead already?

"It will take time." Sasuke said. "I don't want you to interfer nor to manifest yourself, whatever happens, is that clear? You will wait for me here."

Juugo nodded and didn't ask much more questions confirming that Sasuke did a good choice by taking him with him. He didn't know why he tried to be that secret about it, but something was telling him that it was for the best. Or at least better than the situation he was actually in. Sasuke got out of the car, moving his way to the residence.

Coming near the glass doors, he first checked the names on the different doorbells of the different flats. His heart missed a beat when he found Naruto's name, somewhere in the middle. So he really did live here, on the fourth floor if he believed it. He looked for the lock that the postmen used with their special keys to enter those kind of places. As soon as he found it, he used his own special key to open the door and quietly go inside.

The hall was empty, and he could see the door leading to the owner's flat, not far from the numberous mailboxes. He mindlessly looked for his name again, even if he knew he was in the right place, before moving to the staircase. He realized, quite to his surprise, that there weren't any elevator. Yet -he counted- there were almost six or seven floors to this residence. It shouldn't be such an expensive residence then and he then again wondered how the hell Naruto was still alive. The only fact he could come into this place so easily was the proof this place wasn't safe at all.

_He must have stayed an idiot then,_ Sasuke thought to himself before sighing.

He took a deep breath and went up the stairs, feeling like he was loosing his time. When he finally arrived on the fourth floor, he looked at the different doors for the names until he found out Naruto's on one door. Sasuke could feel himself getting really nervous. What was he going to say anyway? "Shut up or I kill you"? Was Naruto dumb enough to open the door, or letting him in? According to what he learnt that day, Sasuke couldn't guess at all. He wouldn't say he was freaking out - that wouldn't be true. But the same kind of feeling was twisting his organs as he heard himself knock the door.

It stayed silent for a bit and Sasuke knocked again. No answer. Actually, not even a sound. Putting his ear on the door, he doubted anyone was at home.

_So it was really a waste of time, huh,_ Sasuke thought before looking at his watch. It was hard to believe Naruto wasn't home yet. Maybe he got killed today at work to save Sasuke the pain to do it, he thought again trying to hide to himself how sick it made him. Then he thought that Naruto was probably out with friends - if he had any - and that he would come back latter. This sickness turned into a slight anger at this simple idea. Right, Naruto couldn't know that Sasuke was coming but if so? Sasuke was totally wasting his time. He hated it.

He decided to go back down the hall, probably waiting in the car or at least, out of here. The corridors of this residence were barely breathable. Once he got out of the hall, he put his back on the wall and breathed the fresh air. Finally he didn't feel like going back to the car and tell Juugo they will have to wait longer. He couldn't go back to his house without having at least talked with Naruto. Or at least killing him. It would take so much less time. Why wasn't it the first thing Sasuke thought about? This dumb nostalgia wasn't helping at all. He had to get ride of it before it starts being a problem.

Speaking of which, a car stopped in front of the building, and Sasuke could feel his chest contracting when he saw a boy with blond hair coming out of it. As the guy turned right away to talk to the person in the car, Sasuke couldn't make sure it was him by his face. So he leant a bit over, and he heard the blond guy talking - it was definitly Naruto's voice, talking about owing something to the driver of the car. Sasuke frowned and decided to wait here. It was better if the driver wouldn't see him. The blond guy - so, Naruto - Was still turning his back on him and he started to laugh, which makes Sasuke's lip twitch in a slight amusement he tried to repress. If he was still the kind to laugh that loud, be probably didn't change much.

The sound of the closing door and the car starting made Sasuke's heart miss a beat. It suddenly hit him that he was going to talk with Naruto - the Naruto. The loud classmate that turned out to be a cop somehow. He really wasn't looking foward this conversation, and he couldn't guess how long Naruto stayed back to him, watching the road, because it seemed to go too quickly. His hand slightly touched his gun at this moment. If he shot, right now, it would be over. If he shot, everything would be safe - his secret, his family. Everything.

And Naruto turned to go toward the residence and Sasuke just couldn't do it. The night before probably because of the light, he didn't really realize that Naruto became an adult. His chubby face became thin, and mature. He looked happy, his eyes were still bright, but in the same time, his face showed up unknown experiences that only time could bring. Of course, Sasuke should have expect that, after almost ten years. But he sure didn't expect chubby, childish Naruto to have turned in such a stunning man.

At some point, their looks met, and Naruto froze, eyes wide open in surprise. There was no turn back possible now. Sasuke calmed himself up immediatly. He was his family's heir, he couldn't let himself being impressed. And if he wasn't able to pull the trigger, then he had to calm the fuck down and come to him - impress him, terrify him, anything enough to be sure his secret will be safe as long as he was alive. Sasuke took a deep breath and stepped toward Naruto, more determined than ever. The fact Naruto wasn't moving was probably a good sign - sign he was impressive enough.

"It's been a while, Naruto."

Naruto didn't say a word first - so, he's really still an idiot - but then he turned around, probably trying to see if there were anyone else around.

"I've come alone." Sasuke sighed. "I just want to t-"

He didn't finish his sentence yet that Naruto punched him in the face - before he could even react. Sasuke blinked, putting his hand on his cheek. He didn't except to see Naruto's face to be deformed by this kind of anger.

"THAT was for the TEN FUCKING YEARS without a single word!" Naruto hissed. "What the HELL have you been up to?! What the FUCK was that about?! And would you care to explain what the HELL happened yesterday?!"

Definitly the hugest idiot of the whole universe. Did he just hit a person he KNEW was a member of the mafia?! How was he even still alive?!

"You realize I could kill you right now?!" Sasuke answered bitterly, rubbing his hand on his sore cheek. "That I should kill you right now?"

"Oh yeah?" Naruto snickered. "Well I'm watching you right now, just do it, just like you tried yesterday!"

The anger Naruto was expressing caught Sasuke out of guard. He was expecting him to be afraid, or anxious, or anything but that. Not to actually defy him just like that. Sasuke took a deep breath. He should keep his calm. He had no other choice than to keep his calm.

"Did you talk about anyone about yesterday?"

Naruto had a bitter laugh as he turned his head. "You mean the delivery or seeing you?"

"You know what I mean." Sasuke sighed. He couldn't believe he was actually having this conversation.

"Why would I talk about it to anyone?" Naruto answered. "Don't think so full of yourself."

"Probably because of it." Sasuke rolled his eyes by throwing on Naruto the file he created about him earlier that day. Naruto was surprised, as his frown showed up, but as soon as he opened the file, his eyes widened, and his face lost some of his colors. Great. He finally got the situation in which he was in.

"W-Where did you get that?" Naruto asked, looking at the different pages.

"Next time you put yourself in troublesome sitations, try to at least protect the informations that could risk your life."

The anger left to give place to the confusion on Naruto's face and Sasuke put his hands into his pockets, looking at him.

"So did you tell your little friends about yesterday?" Sasuke was clear and threatening on that point, which brought him to be surprised when Naruto started to shake his head and bit his lip.

"I couldn't believe I was seeing you." Naruto said quietly. "I didn't want to risk it."

"This is the first smart thing I witness you doing." Sasuke commented and Naruto glared at him.

"So what, are you going to kill me now to be sure I won't tell a thing? This is how you do in your mafias or whatever?"

Sasuke looked at him for a few seconds before proposing. "Do you want a drink? I'm inviting you to take a drink."

".. I'm sorry?"

"Come on." Sasuke aheaded toward the pub that was down the street - a little cosy pub that Naruto frequented from time to time. It didn't took long for Naruto to follow him.

"What are you playing at?" Naruto asked.

"Isn't it something you do when you meet again someone you didn't see in a long time? Invinting them for a drink?" Sasuke casualy answered.

"You left for ten years without a single word." Naruto answered bitterly. "You need better than that."

"It was Nine Years and not killing you when I should should make up for that."

"Wh- Do you even listen to yourself, you Sasuke bastard!"

Sasuke couldn't help but feel a faint smile to come onto his lips. Naruto always used to insult him, just like right now. From the corner of his eyes, he could see Naruto being less tense than he was while reading his file, and less angry than when they first faced each other. Maybe the conversation will go more smoothly from this point. They arrived in front of the pub and before Sasuke could open the door, Naruto put himself between his hand and the doorhandle, frowning. Sasuke just realized that Naruto, who used to be smaller than him, was barely the same height as him now.

"What?" Sasuke sighed.

"What are you doing here?" Naruto growled. "Why did you come to find me?"

"Because you left your adress on the internet." Sasuke rolled his eyes.

"Th-That's not what I meant!" Naruto grumbled. "You told it yourself, I should be dead right now, you should kill me, and you're bringing me to a crowded place, so the least easiest way to kill someone. Why?"

"Are you seriously asking me why I bring you to somewhere safe for you just before entering this said place?!" Sasuke shook his head in disbelief. "How are you even Alive?!"

Before Naruto could answer, Sasuke dragged him in the not-that-crowded-pub, and lead Naruto until a table, far from the crowd that was agruing on the TV news on senator Namikaze that just cut out the last football game. Naruto tried to protest, but Sasuke didn't care less, made him sat on the chair back to the wall and sat in front of him.

"What are you trying to achieve?!" Naruto talked again - it seemed like he wasn't ready to get ride of it as long as he didn't get answer.

"I'm intending to threaten you enough just so I can be sure you never talk. Two beer please." he added when the waiter came to them before turning back behind his bar.

"Which leads me to ask again why didn't you kill m-"

"Stop talking about killing." Sasuke cut him off. "I didn't do that because in my family, we try to limitate those things. You would be dead by now if anyone else than me found you."

It wasn't quite true though. Ofcourse, his family tried to limitate the killings, but even with this moral, the situation in which Naruto found himself in should bring him to be killed - in his family or not. The only reason Naruto was still alive wasn't the Code, but Sasuke's foolishness. But that, he'll never admit it.

" "Your family"?" Naruto asked in disgust, yet in wonder. "This is how you call a brunch of criminal people, Sasuke? A _family_?"

"This is how the group is called, yes." Sasuke grited his teeth. "For someone who is supposed to work on it, not knowing that should be a reason for you to quit."

"I know this is how you call the mafias from the inside!" Naruto snapped back, crossing his arms. "This is you calling them like that the issue here."

"Why's that?" Sasuke asked. "You saw it yourself."

"I just can't believe you, from all people, ended up in those.. things!" Naruto answered. "You always had been an asshole, but you were a good guy! How did you end up in such... Things!"

"I was born in it." Sasuke squinted and he saw Naruto's face being torn in confusion.

"What do you mean you were...?"

"I've always been a part of it. Or at least has been my blood family. I've always meant to continue the family's legacy - even when we met."

Naruto's eyes went wide and he bit his lips before looking away, pushing his own back against the chair. The waiter came back with the two beers and left them alone. Naruto took his beer and started to drink it.

"... I didn't know." Naruto finally said, without looking at him.

"You didn't have to know." Sasuke coldly answered. "Nobody has to know."

"But we were _friends_." Naruto insisted on this last word, which made Sasuke shiver. "I should have known", Naruto continued. "I should have guessed, I.."

"No you shouldn't have." Sasuke cut him off again before drinking a bit. "Nobody can be trusted when it comes to that point."

Naruto finally looked back at him and Sasuke almost got trouble to swallow. He didn't expect to see Naruto looking so hurt.

"Is that why you left?" Naruto asked with a faint voice. "because of the family?"

"I came of age." Sasuke simply replied, trying not to look affected. "I couldn't fake having a normal life anymore. I couldn't afford getting more useless bonds."

"... _Useless bonds_?" Naruto looked offenced. "Was it what it was for you?!"

"If it wasn't for those bonds I wouldn't be here right now trying to fix the bloody mess you put yourself in!" Sasuke hissed. "So yes, this is what they are, just damn useless bonds."

Naruto's confusion took Sasuke out of guard. Just the way Naruto was trying to hide how bad he was feeling, gritting his teeth, made Sasuke feeling guilty for how harsh he just had been. This was fucked up. He shouldn't even have felt guilty into killing him in the first place, and now he was feeling bad for being harsh to him. This was fucking insane.

"So can I be sure you'll keep every of this secret, or must I threaten everyone you know to be sure you'll keep it silent?"

"You could do that?" Naruto asked anxiously.

"You don't hide yourself very much." Sasuke answered. "It would be a piece of cake to attack any of your friend before tomorrow if I ordered it. So?"

Naruto gritted his teeth again. "Got it. I guess I don't have any others choices anyway."

"That's the spirit." Sasuke was glad Naruto wasn't fighting much over it. It was making it easier. "If we ever found out anything you could have said, I won't hesistate anymore. Is that clear?"

"Crystal clear."

"Perfect."

Sasuke finished his drink and let the money on the table. He could feel Naruto's confused look on him as he stood up.

"Then I hope we won't have to meet each other ever again." Sasuke said. "Goodbye Naruto."

It was over for him. If Naruto really didn't talk -which was something Sasuke believed in, knowing Naruto's personality.. or past personality- then they had nothing more to say. Sasuke didn't want to tempt anything wrong to happen now. He meant what he said earlier - bonds were useless and in no mean he will help this weak bond between Naruto and him getting any stronger.

He just totally forgot that when talking about bonds, you have to be at least two people. So Sasuke was clearly surprised when he arrived near the door and felt someone's grabbing his arm - Naruto.

"What the..."

"Look, Sasuke." Naruto cut him off, and Sasuke was surprised to see so much assurance on a face which was so confused earlier. "I have no idea what happened those ten last years-"

"Nine." Sasuke corrected.

"Whatever, I'm saying, I have no idea and I don't really care. You used to be my friend. I..." Naruto hesitated and passed his hand behind his neck. "Well, it's probably stupid, but maybe I can still find this friend in you, y'know?"

"... Did you miss the criminal part you were talking about earlier?"

"I'll deal with it."

"Knowing I could kill you any second?"

"I'll deal with it."

"I just threatened y-"

"I don't want to let you go again." Naruto cut him off. For some seconds that sounded like some terrible centuries, Sasuke couldn't find a way to breath again. "I've looked for you when you were gone." Naruto continued, and it suddenly seemed like he was embarassed. "You were one of the first friend I've ever had. So even If we can't be friends or anything like that.. Don't tell me to let go of you just yet."

_This man is a nutjob, _Sasuke thought._ Why is he even doing this!_

"What on earth makes you think it is a good idea?!" Sasuke replied coldly. "I changed. You probably did too, even if you don't seem to have got any smarter! How can you even believe there is anything to save in our so long gone friendship?!"

"The fact you didn't kill me yesterday. Neither today."

Sasuke could have answered it if Naruto didn't have one of those bright smile that made him think nothing he could say would change anything. Not only because he couldn't find any other words to go against them, but because part of him -a faint, shamefull part of him- was convinced that erasing this smile from those lips would be a crime that even a member of a mafia couldn't do.

"This is a bad idea." Sasuke finally answered, trying to look away from it.

"Whatever, those are the best." Naruto took Sasuke's hand, which brought him to look at the blond guy again. Before Sasuke could say anything, Naruto took a pen and wrote numbers on Sasuke's left hand.

"... Your phone number?" Sasuke realized.

"Call me one day." Naruto replied with this damn fucking smile again. "And if you need another reason than that, then give it a call to see if I betrayed you just yet."

If it wasn't too much already, Naruto winked and Sasuke could barely think coherently at this point. Once he finished writing, Sasuke disengaged and looked down - avoiding this face while he still could.

"Whatever." was his final reply, as he went out of the pub, letting Naruto's alone in it.

Once he was outside, he started to walk really fast to Juugo's car, still parked next to Naruto's home. He heard the door opening behind him, he could feel Naruto's look on his back as he was walking away, and he walked faster. He could feel his hand burning under the traces of all those numbers. It was so unpleasant. So Unpleasant. He didn't come for this. He never thought he'll leave with it. It was like each time Naruto was involved, things were meant to go wrong.

He finally reached Juugo's car and he opened himself the door to the backseats. Juugo, who was peacefully waiting, looking at the reviewmirrors, turned to see him.

"Did everything go right?" he asked carefully. "I saw him hitting you."

"Start the car and never talk to anyone about tonight." Sasuke answered, throwing the file on the seat next to him, putting his knees near his face and wrapped them with his arms just so he could hide in them as the car started moving.

The black numbers were glowing on Sasuke's hand.

So was Naruto's smile in Sasuke's head.

Despite all his efforts, this bond was still far from going away.

* * *

**Notes: Yeah, Kiba's tatoo(es) are totally calqued over Ed Sheeran's, if you want to check out. **

**This is also normal than Sasuke,Naruto and Sakura have a different point of view of their common pasts, since they all remember it in the way they want. But if you want to trust one of them, you better trust Sakura. She knew what was up.**

**Anyway, I hope you enjoyed it, and I hope you're expecting a following chapter just as much as I do! If you could post some reviews, I will love you forever, those make me want to work :3**

**See you soon!**


	3. 3 - Let's Play Murder

_Heyaa everyone o/_

_Okay so it's been a little while, but HERE I AM o/ With a chapter over, and WAAAYS too long (goddamnit I will never ever write anything that long again, seriously.)_

_And huh, it has a lot of things that I had a lot of trouble to write (never ever again.)(*remembers half or her others plot points*)(*cries*) so I hope it is less messy than what I think it is._

_HOWEVER: Thank you to all of you, for reading and reviewing my fanfic: it means a lot to me!_  
_So thank you: **Killua17, Greymouser, Saku-ann, Jeamour and Letsusura** for your reviews, it means a lot to me. Thank you to those who favorised or just put in story to follow, and to anyone reading this today. I hope i Won't disappoint!_

_(Special mention to **Letsusura**, who still does her work of managing to an insane level (I don't even want to start on what she did to force me to write this chapter =w=) and **Jeamour** who was super sweet with me to push me to continue the fic o/)_

_**Warning**: The Rating kinda explain itself on this chapter. It is not really graphic (I don't like graphic), but some parts are... well, really ajusted to the Mature Rating._

_**Warning 2: **I still didn't turn as an english speaker between this chapter and the previous one (Why would you let meh like that, Fairy of the english speakers) so there are still probably a lot of misakes. Plus, it is probable that some sentence seems clumsy in english while it makes sense for my french brain... I hope it's not as much a problem as I think it is!_

**_WARNING IMPORTANT: I can't believe I forgot to say that for TWO CHAPTERS already but here it is: the world they evolve in is TOTALLY fictional. That is to say the city, the streets, the politics... Everything is fictional. Gah sorry It took so long to be said!_**

_ENJOY and see you later :D_

* * *

**3 - Let's play Murder.**

* * *

The McDonnal's was crowned and Naruto was next to the window, waiting. He was turning his phone in every directions with his fingertips, looking at the window to see the street getting crowned minutes by minutes as Lunch Time was starting for everyone. Naruto always thought there should be different Lunch Time considering your job, so at least not everyone would rush in the same place at the same time.

He didn't start his burger yet, as he was waiting for someone. He turned on his phone, saw no notification and sighed before looking back at the window, playing again with his phone.

After two minutes of waiting, finally, a man sat in front of him and Naruto smiled.

"You're late."

"For once it is this way around I order you to stop bossing me!" his friend answered with a dog smile as he was putting his plate on the table.

Naruto shook his head and laughed. It's been a while since he last saw Kiba. His brown hair were still wild, his tatoos on his cheek were still as red as ever, and Naruto could spot a bandage near his wrist. Naruto rolled his eyes.

"Another tatoo, seriously? Which other compagny are you promotting now?"

"Oh fuck off, Ketchup is life and it was important for me to have it!" Kiba answered, bringing the action to the words by fulling his burger with Ketchup.

"And so this new Tatoo?"

Kiba took off his bandage for a few seconds, revealing a blue band with some snowflakes on it.

"... May I ask why?" Naruto questioned.

"This is a Frozen reference man."

"The Disney or the horror movie?"

"Do I have the face of someone putting a horror movie reference on my body?" Kiba answered, putting his bandage to place.

"I wouldn't say you have the face of someone putting a ketchup tatoo on his body and yet here we are."

"This is the Disney's one reference, jackass!" Kiba growled.

"You're telling me you made yourself a tattoo after a Disney?!"

"Man you ain't seen the movie, you can't know!" Kiba responded.

"I know the movie came out some monthes ago and it was enough for you to make a tattoo about it." Naruto pointed out, taking a bite on his burger.

"YOU AIN'T KNOW TRUE LOVE." Kiba shouted back, which brought people to look at him. "And Elsa is awesome you can't deny it!"

"I don't know, I didn't see the movie." Naruto rolled his eyes. "And stop screaming!"

"I'm gonna kidnapp you one day to make you watch this movie, period."

"Just try."

Kiba ignored him and took a huge bite in his own burger, while Naruto was rolling his eyes. Once again, he checked his phone out, before taking another bite.

"So despite those new ridiculous tattoos, how you're doing?"

"Bite me." Kiba answered with his mouth full before swallowing. "My boss is a bastard. I didn't stop working those last few days, this is tiring."

"Seriously?" Naruto chuckled. "So there IS someone out there that manage to make you work."

"Bite me." his friend repeated.

"You already said that, didn't know you got a kink." Naruto teased and his friend kicked him under the table.

"You can talk" Kiba answered. "You were the one with a bite mark everyday on your neck in high school."

Naruto blushed a bit. "That's not true!"

"Com'on, you always found yourself in relationship with vampires or whatever." Kiba snickered.

"Fuck off!" Naruto replied, playing again with his phone. "You're overreacting!"

"I ain't the one who was putting scarves around his neck everyday to avoid getting fired out of class."

Naruto hid his face with his hands,feeling like all those shameful memories were heating up his face. Why were they talking about that anyway?

"I hate you Kiba."

"And I love the fact I've befriended you when you were sexualy active. Man you used to be a man whore."

"So were you!" Naruto replied. "Goddamnit, are we really gonna have this conversation?"

"You brought that up!" Kiba accused.

"You brought that up!" Naruto sighed, before checking his phone again. "Man I often wonder if you manage to talk about something else than sex."

"Well if you were going out more we wouldn't talk about it. But you have no life."

"I do have a life, fuck off Kiba." Naruto replied.

"The only person you talk to those days is your cat!"

"You know I work with human beings right?"

"Okay we already talked about it, I can't believe for one second that this Sai guy is human." Kiba answered. "He's an alien and you know it."

"I thought we were supposed to not talk about it?"

"That's right, he may use us for human experiences if we figure his secret out."

Naruto shook his head. "I keep telling you he's a robot from the future. There is nothing to agrue here."

"Still sure about the Alien." Kiba replied, taking another bite.

Naruto smiled and continued to eat. It was something he enjoyed with Kiba. It was never serious. The McDonnal's was more and more crowned as time went by, and Naruto wanted to get out of it as soon as possible. He checked his phone again and then finished his burger, before eating his fries.

"Anyway," Kiba started, putting his burger down. "I was thinking..."

"That's a first."

"Shut up, I was thinking about going to the cinema tonight, for once that I have a spare evening. What about you to come with me?"

"I can't promise anything." Naruto sighed, checking his phone again. "I work a lot lately and..."

"It's a girl isn't it?" Kiba cut him off with a dog smile.

Naruto blinked. "What? No, I'm..."

"So it's a boy?" Kiba cut again. "Last time you dated a boy right? Is that a boy again?"

"What the hell are you talking about?" Naruto asked, totally lost.

"It's like the fifth time you checked your phone since I arrived." Kiba answered. "So who is this? Who are you waiting?"

Naruto blinked and looked at his phone again before realizing what he was talking about. He didn't even notice anymore at this point that he was doing that. Naruto bit his lip, feeling a bit of discomfort he wouldn't even admit to himself.

"This is not related to a date, idiot." Naruto replied.

"Well for once I thought you'd get the D. Or the V. Whatever you want next." Naruto rolled his eyes and Kiba continued. "So who's this? Someone you want to fuck at least?"

"Can you think about something else than fucking, damnit."

"You know I can't. Soooo?"

"I don't intend to fuck anyone at the moment." Naruto grumbled.

"So what is it?"

Naruto didn't answer, as he decided to steal Kiba's burger and take a bite, as hecould definitly see Kiba's face covering in frustration as the silence was going on.

"COM'ON Don't let me in the unknown!" Kiba groaned, taking his burger back without a word on it. "If it's not that, what it is? Is that a dog? Are you going to date a dog?"

"Fuck off man, I'm not as crazy as you are!" Naruto replied.

"Then what is it? You cannot stay silent with me, damnit, you know everything about my sex life-!"

"Yeah, about that, I don't need to know which is your favorite position with the girl you date, FYI." Naruto cut, trying at least to change the subject.

"If it wasn't for my sex talks you would still be a virgin today!" Kiba replied with pride. "So I'm not gonna apologize about teaching you stuff!"

"You know, usually friends share, like, other kind of stuffs."

"Glad we have this special friendship then."

Naruto rolled his eyes and finished his fries. Before he could even stop it, however, Kiba stole his phone.

"What the-"

"If you don't give me the infos I'm gonna take 'em." Kiba answered, trying to look at his messages.

Naruto sighed and crossed his arms, looking at Kiba's face going down.

"There is nothing in it!" Kiba complained.

"Because I'm not waiting anything." Naruto rolled his eyes again.

"You SURE are waiting for something! Don't tell me you've been girly enough to give your phone number to someone and now you are waiting for him or her to call?"

Naruto felt his cheek getting warmer in shame and he saw Kiba gasp right.

"Oh my god, you did that."

"Shut up." Naruto replied, grumbling, trying to take his phone back.

"HOW DID I RAISE YOU!" Kiba yelled. "NEVER GIVE YOUR PHONE NUMBER TO SOMEONE YOU WANNA DATE, ALWAYS TAKE IT."

"Calm your fucking voice down!" Naruto hissed, finally managing to tear his phone away from Kiba's hands. "It ain't for a date, so give me a break!"

"God damnit you're such a girl." Kiba replied. "Do I even know this person?"

"No you don't, stop asking questions!"

Kiba sighed and pushed his own back on the chair again, finally giving up. "You're a pain in the ass Naruto, y'know that?"

"You're the one invading my privacy."

"Privacy doesn't mean anything between us." Kiba smirked.

"And that's why you've never been in relationship for more than two weeks." Naruto grumbled.

"People can't handle perfection, what do you want?"

"Is Perfection the new name of your dog?"

"Bite me."

Kiba swallowed the last bite of his burger and looked around them. The place was so full with people that it was actually getting difficult to breath to stay in here. They didn't even need a look to agree and stand up at the same time in order to get away from the place. Once they arrived in the street, Naruto filled his lungs with air and Kiba yawned. Everyone rushed in restaurents and else, and despite the fact that the weather was good, the streets were almost all empty. This was often the case when they were away from the center of the city, and as Kiba couldn't move his ass to the main street, Naruto had to come in one of those streets that he could reach only by cab or tube. It was far from work, but at least he could see Kiba. Well, he could actually wonder why it was a good thing, but that was not the point.

He checked again his phone, and hearing Kiba's snickering, he actually realized that he did it quite a lot. It was a habit he started to take during the whole week. Kiba was probably right: he should have taken Sasuke's number, not giving him his.

On the first few days, he was only checking his phone from time to time, during their pauses at work, not much. Then he caught himself to do it again and again, ways too much, even during the night when he woke up for a few seconds. He was doing that so often that even Sai started to comment on it, which was the last thing Naruto needed on his back. Even Kiba was easier to handle than Sai.

Sasuke didn't call. Nor text. He didn't care for the slightest. Naruto should have expected it, as Sasuke ran away from him - like he always does, a bitter voice added in his mind. On the other hand, he didn't expect to care that much. He didn't speak for Sasuke for years, and when he found him back he was a man from the mafia that threatened to kill him. He had no reason to care at all. Or to give him his phone number.

But in the end, Naruto always ended up caring too much. Whoever Sasuke was nowadays, he wanted to now how, why. If he was to give up on Sasuke, he wanted a better reason than just he's a guy from the mafia. In the end, the silence was even worse. Naruto could rationalize why Sasuke didn't tell him when they were young, Naruto didn't know about the mafia so it was better to cut out any relation, and as angry as it made him, Naruto could understand why. But now, Naruto knew. And if Sasuke always had been in the mafia, there were no reason to believe a bond now wasn't possible. Or so Naruto thought. Then the nights passed by and he started to wonder if there were anything in Sasuke worth trying for.

Part of Naruto was disappointed - worse even, feeling betrayed - but even with all the worst cases scenarios in mind, Naruto didn't manage to think about giving up just yet. And he would have gladly call Sasuke to yell at him and tell him that, if he had Sasuke's number. Which he didn't have, since he foolishly thought Sasuke will call him and he will have his number thanks to this.

So now, like Kiba said with his all famous finesse, he just looked like a girl waiting for someone to call.

Naruto put his phone in his pocket, trying not to think about it, as he walked down the street with Kiba. This one was talking about his dog, then which tatoo he'll probably do next, and the conversation went on from that point for a few minutes.

Until Naruto felt his phone vibrate in his pocket.

Holding his breath, Naruto took it out, feeling Kiba looking at him with his eyebrows frown. But any kind of hope that came in Naruto's mind for a few seconds were shattered away when he saw the name of his partner on the phone. Sighing, Naruto took the call.

"Sai? What's the matter?"

"Where are you right now?" Sai's voice said, covered a bit by the traffic on his side.

"Huh, around the Valley Street, why?" Naruto answered after checking the place.

"Go to the post office, I'm coming to pick you up." His partner replied. "There's been a murder, we're asked on Trader Street."

* * *

Trader Street was somewhere between the Main Street and Valley Street, and it was well known for all the shops that were around. They got there quite fast, though Naruto totally blamed Sai's ways to drive when they had a case, which was halfway between "Sonic the Hedgedog" fast and "I'm trying to kill us" fast. When they got on place, however, they could see a lot of people, all around the same place. They made their way in the crowd, to the yellow band that was blocking the era between two building, and both showed their ID cards to a fellow policeman that let them pass. They went straight ahead to their boss, Kakashi, a tall man with grey hair who was wearing a mask hiding his mouth and nose, who was walking by them already.

"You've been fast."

"Sai almost killed us in the process, but yes,we've been fast." Naruto said, and he could feel Sai's glare on his neck.

"What do we have?" Sai asked.

Kakashi glanced at them, frowning before waving at them to bring them in the middle of the way. The smell took Naruto out of guard, and he covered his mouth and nose with his hand. In those kind of circumstance, he could understand why Kakashi never left his mask. Sai didn't seem to be bothered by that. It smelled like blood. They arrived next to the forensic, Shizune, a woman with short brown hair, who was croutching next to a box. Naruto felt his heart beat faster as he picked an eye into the box. Human limbs. He wanted to puke.

"It looks like she's looking right at us." Sai said casually looking at the head at the top of the box.

"Sai, It's time for a bit of human decency if you don't mind." Naruto replied looking at Shizune to not look at the box. "Do we know who she is?"

Shizune nodded. "Her name was Yurika. She used to work for us."

Naruto felt nauseous. "Used to?"

"Because she is dead, Naruto." Sai sighed. "Do you have a brain sometimes?"

"She was investigating on a family we had a few informations about. " Kakashi said before Naruto could answer. "She probably discovered something she shouldn't have."

"She got caught." Sai added. "She mustn't have been that clever."

"You're talking about someone who have been cut in pieces!" Naruto hissed at him. "Stop being that insensitive!"

"Emotions are useless on a case." Sai replied. "I already told you that."

Naruto grinced his teeth and looked at the crowd. That was the kind of problems he always had with Sai. If when they weren't working he was trying to at least understand others people, as soon as they were on the case, he was as cold as ice. Take a heartless guy to understand heartless guys, Kakashi would say talking about how effective Sai was at his job thanks to this. But Naruto was still not used to this.

"I thought mafias tried to stay quiet." Naruto said after a moment thinking. "Why would they let a body of someone they know was investigating on them in the middle of a popular street?"

"Guess IQ isn't what mafias are looking for anymore." Sai commented.

"It was probably a small new family." Kakashi ignored Sai. "They more than likely don't know some basics about hiding bodies."

"We know who they are, don't we?" Naruto asked.

"Mafias always hide themselves well." Kakashi replied. "Identities are the hardest things we could get, so we don't really know."

"There are a lot of fingerprints on the box." Shizune said as she got up. "But it's more than probable that most of them don't belong to our killer. But we found this in the box."

She showed up a customized knife covered with blood in a plastic bag. Sai took it from her and looked at it.

"Music notes?" Sai frowned. "Where can you find knives with that on?"

"You don't." Kakashi replied. "It has been graved on it by a professional."

"So you mean they were idiot enough to leave a part of their identity on a crime scene?" Sai looked at the knife again.

"I still don't know if it's silliness or something else." Kakashi replied, putting his hand on his chin. "We can never know for sure."

"What else could it be?" Sai asked, frowning.

Kakashi looked at the crowd before answering: "A lot of things."

Naruto himself started to glance at the crowd, as Sai and Kakashi started to look around for clues. Talking about all of their theories out of the open wasn't a good idea. If there was a reason why this body was out of the open, then it wasn't safe. The fact so many people could see the corpse was a problem as well. They weren't supposed to be exposed at those kind of stuffs, and it was the best way to put spotlights on the brunch of policemen who worked on this case. There were too much people. Some of them looked horrified, others looked excited. Suddenly Naruto's heart stopped for one second.

Among them, there was Sasuke too.

Seeing him on a crime scene wasn't really the thing Naruto expected. The fact he was showing up when the mafia was the main suspect didn't mean anything good. He blinked a few times, to be sure he wasn't hallucinating him, and after a few time, their eyes finally met. Naruto's blood raced faster than usual seeing him. Nothing good could come out of it. Sasuke saw him and then he turned his back on him to move away from the crowd. There were no way Naruto could let him go like that.

" 'Comin' back." he threw at Sai without even looking at him, and he aheaded to the crowd, to Sasuke.

Once he moved in the crowd, he saw Sasuke walking next to a building on the other side of the road. Ignoring people asking him questions on his way out, he ran toward him, as he saw him going in another back alley a few buildings away.

As soon as he arrived in the back alley, however, he was pushed onto the wall right away, blocked by Sasuke's body.

"What the-" Naruto blinked in surprise.

"What the hell are you doing here?!" Sasuke hissed at him, holding him against the wall.

"I could ask the same thing to you!" Naruto replied as he disengaged. "I'm doing my job, what are YOU doing here?!"

Sasuke bit his lips angrily. "Always finding a way to put yourself in unnecessary troubles huh?"

"Always finding a way to not answer my questions huh?" Naruto immitated and Sasuke twitched in anger.

"Same as you." Sasuke finally replied. "Doing my job."

"Are you involved in all that?" Naruto asked, quite anxious to know the answer.

Sasuke looked at him for a few seconds before answer. "If I told you I am not you wouldn't believe me."

"I would believe the truth!" Naruto exclaimed, and he could see Sasuke's eyes went wide in surprise. "And if the truth is that you're not invovled, then I would believe that. "

It took a little time for Sasuke to go back to his usual angry face. "Tch. I am not involved. There are more than one mafia in this town, this isn't the kind of things my family does."

Naruto wanted to trust him. He really did. But a voice in his head - that strangely looked like Sai's - was telling him not to. It wasn't the Sasuke he used to know. Or more likely, he didn't know Sasuke well back then. How could he be sure that Sasuke or his family wouldn't do that? He couldn't. And he couldn't be sure of Sasuke as well.

"If it is true..." Naruto started carefully. "Then do you at least have an idea of who it would be?"

Sasuke frowned, just like Naruto said the strangest thing ever. "You believe me?"

"I don't know if I do," Naruto honestly replied. "But I'm not gonna charge you without any proof. It's not because you're the only mafia's member I know that you are the only one doing crime out there."

Sasuke blinked, staying quiet, which made Naruto grumble. "You changed." he finally said, after a moment of silence.

"That's what people do in ten years." Naruto rolled his eyes.

"Nine." Sasuke corrected.

"Fuck off."

Naruto probably hallucinated it - yeah, he definitly did - but he could have sworn he had seen Sasuke smiling.

"What was on the knife you found in the box?" Sasuke asked, deadly serious.

"Huh.. Music notes. Why?"

Sasuke rubbed his chin, thoughtfull. It seemed like he had a tone of theories going around in his head, but as he stayed silent, Naruto guessed he didn't mean to share it with him - which made him also realize he did a terrible professional mistake by telling which proof they had to a member of a mafia.

"Hey, asshole!" Naruto called out. "What's the matter? Do you know who they are?"

"This is my problem." Sasuke answered, drawing a movement to get out of the alley. "Don't get involved into it."

"Are you fucking kidding me?!" Naruto grumbled, forcing Sasuke to stay by taking his arm firmely. "I'm not gonna let you go like that! If you know somethin' about the case you better tell me!"

"Let the families deal with themselves." Sasuke coldly answered, but yet, to Naruto's surprise, he didn't disengage yet. "You're just a cop, you don't know what you're involving yourself into."

"The girl who had been killed was also a cop!" Naruto replied angrily. "I'm not gonna let a comrade's death without explaination, asshole!"

"And you might get killed as well!" Sasuke hissed.

"Yeah, thank you I know my job!" Naruto growled. "If you know something, just tell me!"

"Do you know how to stay away from trouble you idi-"

Sasuke stopped himself mid-sentence when they both heard gunshots, not that far from them. A lot of screaming followed, which froze Naruto right away. He looked at Sasuke, trying to see if it was as much a surprise for the raven haired boy than for him - and when he saw Sasuke's eyes went wide, some terror took Naruto over. Without second thought, Naruto rushed out of the alley. He didn't even hear Sasuke calling him out, as he ran straight away to the alley where his comrades were. As he ran, he saw all the crowd running everywhere, like a disorganised pack of threatened animals. His heart started pounding. Once he arrived in the alley, before his eyes could see anything in the mess people running everywhere made, he heard Kakashi's voice screaming.

"SOMEONE CALL AN AMBULANCE, SAI HAD BEEN SHOT!"

* * *

"I swear I'm fine, just leave me be!"

"Sai, would you shut up for one second?"

"I said I was fine, why is that hard for you to understand that?!"

"YOU'VE BEEN SHOT SO SHUT THE FUCK UP AND LET ME SEE THAT!"

However strong Sai wanted to believe he was, he still couldn't stand a chance in front of Sakura's anger. His back pushed on the wall next to the door, Naruto was silently watching - and mocking - his partner, sat on a hospital bed, getting yelled at. Sakura was watching worryingly to the bulletmark Sai had on his upper arm, checking if something important had been touched, while Sai was sometimes grimacing at Sakura's rudeness. Even someone as unable as Sai to feel something correctly was feeling pain after being shot like that.

"It is just my arm, Sakura." Sai finally said again. "It could have been worse. Could have been my head."

"Yes!" Sakura grumbled, putting desinfectant on the wound. "That's the thing, it could _totally_ have been your head! You could have died!"

"But I _didn't_!" Sai answered, insisting so much on this last word that Naruto could have sworn he sang it.

"Talk to me like that once again and I swear you'd wish you did." Sakura replied irritated. "Do you even care for your own life?!"

"Do you even realize we are cops?" Sai answered in the same tone.

"I'm going to kill him." She turned to see Naruto. "Can I kill him please?"

"I thought you were yelling at him because he almost died." Naruto chuckled.

"Yes, but still." Sakura grumbled. "Someone who cares so lightly about his own life shouldn't have a problem with whom is going to kill him right?!"

"You know I can still hear you right?" Sai sighed and Sakura sent him a death glare.

"The only reason I'm not hitting you right now is because you are wounded." Sakura hissed. "So don't tempt me."

"Sai, seriously, don't." Naruto said seeing Sai opening his mouth again. "She might really end up killing you."

Sai grumbled and rolled his eyes, while Sakura put a bandage on the wound again. Sai was right: it could have been worse. Actually he had been really lucky that the bullet just passed in the flesh and was easy to get off his arm. The fact Sai fainted because of the pain worried everyone, especially because of how much he bleed, but in the end all of that was just a reaction due to the pain, and wasn't as serious as they might have thought. Nevertheless, it didn't stop Sakura to worry like crazy seeing them arriving in the ambulance with Sai still unconscious.

"It's crazy you've been the only one to get touched." Sakura said after she finally fixed the bandage. "How is that even possible?"

"We won't talk about it." Sai answered. "It is linked to the case we're working on and you shouldn't get invovled."

Naruto felt his lips twitch as he heard Sai say that.

"It is not because I know something like that that I would get in trouble." Sakura grumbled. "You've been _shot_. Naruto could have been shot as well. I want to know why!"

"You don't have to know." Sai replied. "As for Naruto, he wasn't even here when it happened." He moved his glance to his partner and Naruto suddenly felt uncomfortable. "I wonder why, actually."

"I was checking something on the other side of the road." Naruto lied, as he prepared this lie on the road to the hospital. "Didn't want to miss a single clue."

"Did you find anything?" Sai asked, and Naruto tried to hide how bad the following lies were making him feel.

"Nothing really. My intuition didn't work well."

Sai nodded. "It at least worked to keep you out of trouble this time. That's probably a first for you."

"Thank you Sai." Naruto sighed.

Out of trouble. As if Naruto could even be out of trouble with all of that. The job he chose wasn't one to keep him out of trouble, and having a friend - or so - that worked in the mafias they were hunting was making it even worse. The only thing that wasn't a trouble that happened today was the fact that Sai's wound wasn't serious. That's it. That's the least problematic thing that happened today.

If the universe was pulling a joke at him, Naruto wanted to tell it its humor sucked just as much as Sai's.

"I'm going to take a coffee." Naruto finally sighed.

"Go to the cafeteria then." Sakura replied. "The coffee machine is broken."

"And try to be careful, in case someone wants to kill you on your way out." Sai added.

"Your optimism is going right to my heart, Sai." Naruto answered, before leaving the room.

He walked down the hospital, wandering in the corridors, looking at his feet. Now they couldn't exclude the fact that someone tried to kill one of them. None of them were safe now. And as Sai had no sense of humor, the seriousness of his sentence was just pounding in Naruto's head, repeating itself like a broken radio. Staying out of trouble wasn't an option anymore. Moreover, now, Naruto had to deal with the fact that he ran from the only person that could give him an answer and that he had absolutly no way to contact him. Next time they see each other, if there is a next time, Naruto should take his phone number at any cost. He'd wish that this priority was the one of an old friend, but in the end, the fact Sasuke was a mafioso had more weight into this priority than the friendship they used to share. If only it had been different.

To go to the cafeteria, he had to go out of the hospital's main door, as it was in the other building. But when he got out, another thing caught his attention. Like, having Sasuke Uchiha sat on a bench in front of the doors. Naruto was sure he would have ran away - like he always does. Why was he still here?

"Sasuke?" he called, and Sasuke raised his head to see him.

Getting up, he went right to Naruto. "How's your friend?"

"He's fine." Naruto frowned. "What are you doing here?"

Sasuke reminded silent for a bit, before answering. "Just trying to know what's going on."

"Well at least it makes two of us." Naruto grumbled. "Do you even have an idea you're not telling me about?!"

"You don't have to know." Sasuke replied. "I already told you to-"

"Not get involved, I heard the first time y'know?!" Naruto cut him off. "But my friend just got shot so there is no way I stay out of it!"

"It is more serious than you think, idiot!" Sasuke hissed at him.

"If you really want me to stay away from it, you gotta tell me everything!" Naruto exclaimed. "Can't stay away from a trouble I don't know shit about right?"

Sasuke bit his lip furiously, as he put his hands in his pockets. Naruto was sure that, whatever he was hiding, Sasuke knew something important and possiblely dangerous. But Naruto meant it, he couldn't stay out of it. Sakura's conversation with Sai rang in his ears and he did his best to not show it out. He wasn't Sakura. He was right into it, it was his job, and his friend got hurt, more people could get hurt soon, and Sasuke... Sasuke was just standing silent. It pissed him off.

"Alright then" Sasuke brutally sighed. "You're in danger. All of you are. The people who put this body in place did it on purpose, they try to reach you and your.. team or whatever. Your friend is lucky he survived."

...wait, _what_? "AND YOU'RE TELLING ME TO NOT GET INVOLVED?!"

* * *

He shouldn't be here.

The huge cafeteria was empty, as the afternoon was going by, and Sasuke really regretted to have let himself being dragged into this. He should have listened to his first instict and let his brother checks the crime scene instead of him - he shouldn't have been curious about this bad feeling and he shouldn't have come in the first place.

Yet here he was, cursing himself to be dragged into all that.

He was sat at a table, as Naruto was taking some coffees. Watching him, Sasuke's feelings got mixed up. When he heard about this corpse, so batlantly signed by the mafia, found in one of the most frequented street of the city, he assumed that the police they were going to send will be mafia's related police. Even if he thought about the possibilities to find Naruto on the crime scene, he didn't take it seriously - by normal standarts, he was too young to be sent on the field by the police. Yet it seemed they lived in the only alternative universe where it wasn't the case. It didn't matter that they had the same age: Men of Honor were killers since birth, they grew up too fast, they were used to danger and as a result, in Sasuke's eyes, Naruto was still just a child that had no idea what the hell he got himself into. He wasn't a member of the mafias. He wasn't broken, he wasn't dead inside, and he wasn't a killer. For the first time, Sasuke thought, he saw a cop working against him as a human before seeing him as a threat. Naruto had no place on this case - he wasn't ready for that.

And yet, he spent those last ten minutes asking so much questions that Sasuke was surprised his throat didn't go dry yet.

Sasuke didn't know what he could or should tell to Naruto. If it depended on him, Naruto wouldn't know a thing, and they wouldn't even have to talk. But some parts of the argument Naruto gave him couldn't be ignored: what Naruto didn't know could kill him. If it was what he thought Naruto was in much more trouble than he initially thought - and he was definitly involved. His main purpose shouldn't be to protect a cop, however, and yet it was everything Sasuke was thinking about since he first heard the gunshot. He didn't want to think about why, though. He should focuse on what was going on - and protect Naruto in the process to at least give himself good conscience.

Waiting at the table, Sasuke was mindlessly taping the table with his fingers, thinking about what he could or should tell, and what he should keep silent. Naruto came back with the two coffees and he sat in front of Sasuke.

"So, let's get it straight: Someone wants to kill all the policemen, that's it?"

"Not all of them." Sasuke sighed. "And could you be any louder?"

"Don't tempt me." Naruto rolled his eyes and Sasuke could feel the irritation growing in his throat. "Why would they do that?"

Sasuke sighed. "Your police section has put a lot of trouble in many of our families. Seems that one of them decided to get ride of you all."

"So everything was just a trap?"

"That's it." Sasuke nodded. "And as it was in a popular street, it was easier for them to hurt you or just see your face without you to find them, right?"

Naruto bit his lip. "Our boss tried to investigate from the side where the gunshot came from, but he didn't find anything. So I guess, yeah."

"They're smarter than you." Sasuke said, putting his elbows on the table. "Though if your comrades have the same brain as you it wouldn't be that complicated."

He should have, but he didn't see coming the kick Naruto gave him under the table. "Stop thinking I'm stupid, you bastard!"

"Start acting like you weren't, then, idiot."

To his greatest surprise, what answered to him wasn't an angry upset reaction, but a pouting baby face as Naruto crossed his arms. which confirmed what Sasuke thought in the first place: Naruto couldn't face what this life could do to him.

"Look, the people that are after you? They are determined to kill you." Sasuke growled. "They are professional killers, and they won't let you any chance to survive. Do you get this is not a game?"

"You seem to be the only one to think I think it's a game." Naruto grumbled, and he tried to look serious again. "Does it have anything to do with the knife with the music notes on it?"

"I don't think so." Sasuke sighed. "I know the family that own this knife. They don't do much murders, or at least, not let the police finds the corpses. They don't want you guys on their heels. Plus, if they wanted to trick you, they wouldn't use something that belong to them. Just like those guys did actually - they used something that didn't belong to them."

Naruto frowned. "So you mean that those professional killers -whoever they are- tried to incriminate others professional killers -that you won't tell me more about I presume- while they tried to kill us professionally?"

"... You're giving me a serious headache right now."

Naruto shrugged. "Just want to know what I'm involving myself into. You won't tell me more, will you?"

"You're a cop." Sasuke replied simply and clearly. "Your world is the clear opposite of mine. Put that in your head." After a moment of silence, Sasuke continued. "You should be carefull and stay as far away as possible from this."

"Like I would do that." Naruto grumbled.

"Glad to know you don't care about your own life."

Naruto sighed, and then focused on his coffee. Sasuke then remembered he had one to drink to and started to put it on his lips, when he realized with horror that Naruto put not _one_ - which was already a crime in itself - but _TWO_ sugars in his coffee. His shock must have been visible on his face because Naruto frowned.

"What's that?" Naruto asked.

"You're not gonna drink that." Sasuke replied, focused on Naruto's cup of coffee.

Naruto gasped in shock. "Don't tell me you're one of those purist that won't allow anything in their coffee."

"This isn't coffee anymore if you put that much sugars!" Sasuke heard himself being louder than he expected.

"OFCOURSE it's still coffee you dumbass!" Naruto answered on the same tone. "Anyway sugarfree coffee is _WAYS_ too bitter otherwise!"

"That's what coffee is about!" Sasuke replied. "It is not supposed to be sweet you idiot! Sugars in coffee is disguisting!"

"NOT putting sugar in coffee is freaking disguisting you freak!" Naruto answered and he drank this monstreous abomination.

"Y'know what, I wonder if I shouldn't let you be killed just because you DARE twisting your coffee." Sasuke grumbled to himself as he drank his own cup, and he chocked onto it as Naruto kicked him again. "You ass-"

"YOU DESERVED IT!"

This lead to them drinking their coffees in silence, sending each other death glares. Sasuke thought for one second that his own reaction was kind of immature, but then he didn't care - he meant it, putting sugar in coffee? Goddamnit, it was the worst thing anyone could possibly do. But the more he thought about it, the more he realized that arguing on that kind of things wasn't something Sasuke was used to. Even if it was a terrible thing to do, Sasuke never ever called someone out on this thing, and yet, it came out extremly naturally when he was with Naruto. Which wasn't a good thing. Before he could sort everything out, Naruto put his cup down, looking a bit more confused.

"I wanted to ask you something..."

"It's better be "can I apologize for drinking this disguisting coffee" or I swear I won't answer it." Sasuke heard himself grumble like a child and this time he managed to avoid and to block Naruto's leg with his.

"You're a freaking asshole." Naruto grumbled. "I hope you know that."

"I think I'll deal with it." Sasuke sarcastically replied and Naruto pouted again.

"Why didn't you call me?" Naruto finally said, trying to act like he didn't care about it. "Or text me?"

"Oh no." Sasuke sighed, and he could see Naruto's confusion rising in his eyes as Sasuke stood up. "I'm not going to have this conversation."

"Why not?!" Naruto replied, this time, without hiding how he felt as he raised as well. "What is that about?!"

"I'm not going to have this conversation with you." Sasuke growled, and he then aheaded himself to the outside. "Goodbye."

"You freaking- WAIT A MINUTE!" Naruto caught up on him and Sasuke could almost see again the same angry and determined man from the other night. "What was that?! Not even trying to hide it behind a "I didn't have the time" or anything, you asshole?!"

"I shouldn't even be talking with you in the FIRST PLACE." Sasuke heard himself almost yell. "So just.."

"You're a fucking coward, you know that?!" Naruto cut him and Sasuke stopped immediatly. "You alway run away. _Always_! When we were kid, when we were at the pub, and _NOW_ again! What's wrong with you?! _What's fucking wrong with you,_ is that how you deal with the issues in the mafia too?! I bet you do, it's the only way you deal with things!"

"Don't ever talk as if you knew how it was!" Sasuke hissed at him in anger and hurt. "Don't even talk to me like you knew _anything_!"

"The only thing I said was that you were a FUCKING COWARD!" Naruto yelled again and Sasuke wanted to reap his throat. "I just fucking asked you one thing, one FUCKING thing and you're running away, _AGAIN_, like you always do!"

" You want to know why I didn't call?!" Sasuke replied with the coldest tone he was capable of. "You really want to know?!"

"YES!" Naruto replied with determination.

"I don't want to have to deal with YOU!" Sasuke threw at him. "You're talking about a friendship that doesn't exist and you're acting like a freaking BURDEN! I have no point in doing anything with you!"

He knew he had been harsh on purpose, but seeing how hurt Naruto looked really made him feel much more guilty than he expected. It wasn't the truth. He wanted to tell the truth. How he didn't call because he didn't know what to say, because each time he saw those numbers on his hand, he wanted to call while everything told him to not call him, because he had no reason at all to wish for it. The truth on how he thought about it everyday, coming up with a dozen of excuses to not press those numbers he now knew by heart on the phone. But he knew he couldn't let it being said. His pride wanted him to shut up, and as a man of honor, he was taught to always listen to his pride. He decided to not let it show, to keep being strong and hateful, as he left Naruto right here, keeping as much effort to be away from him and his fucking face.

"You're not even trying." He heard Naruto's faint voice behind him before he closed the door, and without turning back, Sasuke left the place.

* * *

"This is disguisting."

"Make an effort."

"I don't want to make an effort, this thing isn't even eatable."

"You do realize Sakura will kill you if you don't eat?"

"I survived being shot, I would survive her being angry at me."

Sai sighed and pushed his plate, as Naruto snickered a bit. Sakura insisted to at least keep him one more day, even though Sai could easily move his arm - this guy was insensitive to pain, Naruto thought - and Kakashi agreed, saying he would be in better shape after resting a bit. Sai had fought to say that he wasn't feeling that much pain, and that he wanted to find the asshole that shot him, but nothing could be done about it, neither Kakashi nor Sakura would let him come out of the hospital today. Seeing how frustrated it was making him, Naruto decided to spend his lunch time with him - and so he could appreciate Sai's face as he was eating a good sandwish and that his partner was forced to eat some unrecognizable food. After he finished his sandwish, however, Sai was still pesting against this terrible thing that people in hospital called food.

"You know what, I wouldn't even be surprised if they were putting poison in those things." Sai finally said. "So they would get money from the life assurance after killing people."

"Woah, Sai" Naruto chuckled, surprised. "Where did you learn this joke?"

"It's not a joke, I'm serious, this is a way to kill someone!" Sai replied.

"Hospitals are meant to save people's lives, Sai." Naruto rolled his eyes, disappointed to finally face the humorless of his friend.

"That's why there is more deaths in hospital than everywhere else."

"Are you sure you're not trying to be funny right now because this would make a hell of a joke." Naruto chuckled seeing Sai so frustrated to not be taken seriously.

"Instead of being an idiot, tell me what we got on the case." Sai said, as he put his hand on his injuried arm.

"Still not much." Naruto shruged. "We're kinda sure this was an isolated act against our section, but we don't know much more. Kakashi asked us to stay at the office if we can, he wants us to be safe before anything else."

"It's not by acting Safely that we will find who's after us." Sai sighed.

"That's what I told him, but it seems you're the only one he listens when it comes to be emotionless."

Sai nodded. Naruto on the other hand, really didn't like this plan. He didn't want to stay at home locked up when everyone could be in danger. Kakashi told him to care about himself first, but it sounded so much like what Sasuke told him the previous day that Naruto didn't want to do this just by spirit of contradiction.

Somehow he couldn't help but bring it back to Sasuke and how unhelpfull he had been. He was the kind to keep secrets and run away, and at the moment, it just pissed Naruto off. The last conversation they had left a bitter taste on his tongue, and he didn't even want to think about it. When he was just working at the office, it was the only thing he was thinking about, and therefore, he wanted to do everything to get busy.

After some minutes, Sakura entered the room and cheerfully said hi to Naruto. But as it was to expect, she didn't appreciate seeing Sai's plate full.

"What's that?" She asked.

"Your disguisting food." Sai replied without even second thought.

"This is good for you!" Sakura sighed. "There is everything in this to make you feel better!"

"Well, EVERYTHING is then freaking disguisting!"

"Com'on, stop acting like a child, it's not that bad!"

"Taste it then!" Sai challenged. "Let's see if you manage to eat it!"

Naruto was interested to see if Sakura was about to actually do it, but his phone started to ring. Sighing, he left the room before knowing the outcome, while he picked up the phone.

"Hey?"

"Heya guy!" He heard the really recognizable voice of Kiba over phone. "How you doin'?"

"You actually forced me out of a fight between Sakura and Sai." Naruto shrugged.

"Outch, who's winning the point this time?"

Naruto picked an eye on the room and saw Sakura disguisted, putting the plate away, while Sai was proudly telling her "I told you so!"

"It seems Sai made his point." Naruto nodded.

"WHAAAT no joke!" Kiba exclaimed. "He actually managed it?"

"Miracles do happen." Naruto laughed, hearing Kiba do the same on the other end of the phone. Sakura and Sai were always bickering so much that Kiba and Naruto loved to count the points of their fightings - but they stayed careful to not let Sakura knows about it, as they both cared about their ribs and didn't want them to be broken up.

"Okay, man," Kiba finally said, as Naruto started to walk in the coridors. "We couldn't see each other yesterday, shaaaame. So here, what about tonight, video games party, at your home?"

"I thought you hardly had a night off?" Naruto wondered. "Now you're telling me you managed to get two in a row?"

"What do you want, I actually do my job so well that they let me out."

"... Who did you pay for this new night off?"

"... Okay, I asked a friend to take my shift." Kiba said and Naruto started laughing again. "Oh stop mocking me! He was owing me one anyway! Plus, for once I'd like to share an evening with my best friend!"

"That's so thoughtfull of you!" Naruto teased.

"Yeah, I know, I'm the best friend you would ever have." Kiba commented, which make Naruto laugh again. "So, deal?"

"I'll try to get free tonight." Naruto nodded. "I need a break too."

"WONDERFUL! So, see you at 7pm, your flat? I'm bringing food if you want, what about chinese? And I mean, chinese food, not _actual_ chinese, we won't eat human flesh tonight, that would be for another night."

"I'm cool with chinese food." Naruto chuckled.

"So that's a deal here!" Kiba exclaimed. "Finally! See you tonight!"

"Yeah, see you tonight." Naruto smiled. "Bye."

The call ended and Naruto sighed. Yeah, a cool evening like that will be relaxing. Well as relaxing as being with Kiba can be.

He realized that he walked quite a lot in the coridors, and he didn't even know where he was at this point. Sighing, he decided to go back to Sai's room, clearing his thoughts a bit in the process. In the end, he couldn't help but be worried. Sai had been the only one to get attacked so far, and they didn't even finish the job right. The fact nobody else had been attacked should be a relief, but it was actually what worried Naruto the most. There should have been more attack, more people hurt. This made no sense at all to suddenly stop, especially since no one got hurt. They pulled the attention on them, and now they weren't moving. Naruto was worried, and the more he thought about it, the more anxious he was.

The worst part is that they didn't know anything about the people trying to attack them. Their only lead had been said to be useless, and they couldn't know what to believe. To be realistic, they didn't know much on the mafias to begin with. So those kind of actions didn't help them to figure out what was going on.

Naruto's thought were interrupted as he heard some noises, not that far from him. Glasses shattering, screamings, a ponding noise. Gunshots.

He froze right away before managing to run to the direction of the noises - or at least to Sai's room, which seemed to be the same thing. When he arrived the room, as he thought, he saw the window broken on the floor, and Sai and Sakura on the ground. From what it seemed, Sai jumped on Sakura to put her behind the bed with him and be protected from any projectile. Naruto rushed to the window, not listening to Sai telling him to keep away from it, and he tried to see where did the bullets come from. Luckyly enough, he saw one man with a red sweatshirt running on the opposite direction, not that far from the building, and Naruto was sure he got a lead. He had to go after him now.

"Naruto, don't!" Sai yelled, helping Sakura to stand up with him. "Call Kakashi or something but don't go yourself!"

"If I don't go now we'll loose the track!" Naruto replied, running to the door.

"Naruto, WAIT" Sakura called him, but he already rushed out of the room, running to the hospital exit.

Something Naruto was proud about was his speed most of the time. In Police school, he always had been the fastest one. He easily reached the place he saw the guy, and rushed to the direction he saw him run to. He hoped he didn't lose the track, hoped the shooter didn't go that far. He ran to what seemed the most logical direction, until at one point, he saw him - the same guy, with the same sweater running on the streets. Catching his breath, Naruto hid himself behind a wall and tried to see this guy's progression, hiding his presence, but trying to follow him as well.

At some point, the man started to get slower, to stop running, looking in every direction to be sure he hadn't been followed. Naruto kept his distances, but didn't want to let him go. He could hear the man swear, as he started to walk into the back alleys, going as far as possible from the hospital. Naruto was careful to not be seen, and he followed him for what seemed to be hours. Something started to take Naruto's breath away, as he realized that they were going further and further into the empty parts of the city. Trying to keep quiet as much as he could, he kept some more distances to not get noticed.

Suddenly, he felt someone catching him from behind, putting his hand onto his mouth and locking him against his chest with one arm. Naruto started to feel panic pounding in every inches of his body and he tried to fight against this hold, until he heard a familiar voice at his ear.

"I told you to stay away from trouble, _you goddamn idiot_!"

Naruto never felt that much relief to hear Sasuke's voice. He released a breath he realized he had been holding since the panic took over as he stopped fighting the hold. He put his hand on Sasuke's on his mouth to get it away, and turned his head to see him. He didn't think, however, that Sasuke would be that pissed off to see him here.

"You scared the shit out of me!" he whispered, trying to disengage from the arm on his chest but Sasuke didn't let him go.

"You shouldn't be here!" Sasuke shuttered angrily. "You didn't even look out for yourself, and you came alone?! Do you want to get killed?"

"Stop asking me that!" Naruto replied in the same tone and tried again to go away from the holding. "Let me go!"

"If I let you go you have to promise me you'll go back right to your home and not turn back!" Sasuke hissed at his ear.

"There is no way I'm going to do that!" Naruto replied. "This guy tried to shoot my friend again and.."

"And you rushed after him without any backup?!" Sasuke asked with his low voice, in what seemed to be a shock.

"I would have lost him if I didn't do that!" Naruto tried then again to get away from Sasuke's holding, but as he was fighting against it, Sasuke was holding him tighter.

"You should have asked for backup you idiot!"

"Then be my backup!" Naruto heard himself whisper, and he was actually surprised of his own words. So were Sasuke apparently, because suddenly his arm around him became numb and Naruto could get away from it.

"What?" Sasuke asked in disbelief.

"You're working on that case too!" Naruto heard himself continue. "You want to stop it just as much as I do, right?"

Sasuke blinked for one second. "How can you not think I'm on those guys' side?"

"Because you told me about them!" Naruto said, and he was actually surprised to realize he actually believed what he said. "Because you tried to protect me, because you were legitimely _worried_!"

"And I could be tricking you." Sasuke answered in confusion.

"I trust you." Naruto conclued and he could see Sasuke's eyes went wide.

He could also hear some voices in his own head screaming against that, but Naruto didn't even manage to listen to them. He had a thousand of reasons to not trust Sasuke, and yet it was the easiest thing to do - the most natural thing that was coming to him. Now that he said it out loud, it just made sense in his head why. Since the begining of the case, the only thing Sasuke tried to tell him more importantly than anything was to be safe. Under those crappy changing of mood, Sasuke actually did his best to keep him safe. It filled Naruto's heart with some joy he didn't even manage to explain. Sasuke kept silent for a little bit, before looking down and bit his lip.

"You're not going to come home safely right?"

"Nope." Naruto answered, feeling a smile getting wide on his face "So what about we deal with it together?"  
Sasuke raised his look at him, and it seemed like he was looking for something on Naruto's face, before he bit his lip again.

"You listen to everything I will say, I command everything that will happen, and if I tell you to run, you fucking run, is that clear?"

"Roger that!"

* * *

Accepting to bring Naruto along was probably the worst idea Sasuke ever had.

At first, Sasuke managed to have enough informations about what he was looking for. His connections with different families, and having many others members of his own family on the case, lead him to a definitive conclusion. From what witnesses saw, from the informations he got, he managed to find the way to this part of the city, who was almost deserted due to the buildings under constructions that were left over because of budget restrictions some years ago. From what he heard, some members of some mafias hid there, mostly for ugly works. It was more than probable that in fact, some members of a family decided to act without their bosses's accord - or at least, every bosses of the families that had good relationships with the Uchiha were all determined to stay as far as they could from the police.

He didn't expect however to see Naruto down here, and seeing him not only confirmed what he thought about this place, but also worried him beyond mesures. He told himself multiple times to not care that much about this freaking idiot, but since this case began, Sasuke was worried about what could happen to Naruto, and that, even while he was trying his hardest to not think about it. It didn't even make sense. Did he care because he was a childhood friend? Because of this damn smile that was always taking Sasuke out of guard? Or the fact that even with all the reasons in the world to keep himself away from him, Naruto was still holding up to him?

Whatever this reason was, it leads him once again to put his mission in danger for the sake of Naruto. If it was meant to be heard... Sasuke didn't even want to think about the shame it would put on him, and his whole family's name. But yet he couldn't think about something else to do. Especially after Naruto told him he trusted him. Instead of yelling at him to not do that, to not trust anyone, Sasuke just accepted it. Even worse, he started to like this idea, and he didn't want Naruto to stop thinking that.

They both moved their ways toward one of the building under construction, and Sasuke caught himself to mostly watch out for Naruto's back that to look for the people he was supposed to find there. And it happened it was much better to do that, as Naruto almost walked into objects that would make a lot of noise and give their positions right away, and the only way to avoid that had been to catch him right before anything happens. In the end, Sasuke didn't even let go of Naruto's arm, that he held tight in order to be more reactive, as his other hand was carrying the gun to protect them if any trouble was meant to happen.

After some minutes walking in the corridors, they finally heard voices coming from what seemed to be a hall. Sasuke pulled Naruto a bit to keep him behind the wall with him and Naruto didn't even protest. Their two heads then were looking into the room, and they tried to be as quiet as they could.

In the middle of the room, they saw two men, one of them with a red sweat shirt that was the one both him and Naruto followed into this place. The other one was wearing a blue jacket and he looked exasperated. They were in the middle of a conversation and they had to lead a bit to hear everything that they were saying.

"... you couldn't even shoot him?!"

"I miscalculed okay!" the guy with the sweater said. "He was quick and he went under the bed and..."

"Couldn't you concentrate on one of the other ones? We have more than one man to kill!"

"We couldn't even kill him first, I figured out it would be better to kill them one by one that to hurt them all at once."

"Yeah it would be better if you managed to KILL them all at once! Do you even realize that if our boss find out about it..."

"I don't know what you're expecting anyway! I thought it was clear we shouldn't attack the police or something like that?"

"Because no one in our family has the nerves to pull them down! They don't even try!"

"And you think only two men will be able to do it?!"

"Well if you managed to shoot straight, I would say yes!"

It was all the informations Sasuke really needed. Those two were doing it without any support of the others members of the families, and they were making a mess. So it was time to clean the mess. He pulled Naruto to him, and when the blond's boy raised his eyes in surprise toward him, he realized that they were so close that their bodies actually touched. Not fond of that little personal space, Sasuke stepped back a bit.

"I'm going to take care of it from now on." Sasuke said. "You go away and I can swear it's going to be-"

"The fuck are you talking about?" Naruto whispered. "We can arrest them right now and..."

"That's what I intend to do." Sasuke replied. "But you're not going to like my ways. So go away."

Naruto's eyes went wide, and Sasuke was facing how much of a child he stayed. "You mean you're going to..."

"This is what I have to do. Go, now."

"They have to face the law!" Naruto pled. "They almost killed a friend of mine, they..."

"They deserve to be killed at the strike." Sasuke answered. "They didn't only go against your laws, they went against our codes. I can't let them alive."

"Sasuke, no!" Naruto shook his head as if the mere idea of knowing about a murder was too much for him to take.

"Go. _Away_."

Naruto didn't seem ready to go, however, which was making him in a troublesome situation. Sasuke thought about knocking him over when one of the two guys said: "Did you hear anything?"

"I think there's someone." the other guy replied, and it became an emergency to keep Naruto away.

But Naruto didn't react the way Sasuke expected him to do. Instead of running on the opposite direction, he stood right in the way.

Before he could even have the time to come with a plan, the guy with the blue jacket arrived in front of them, gun ready to shoot. Sasuke reacted right away by pushing Naruto on the side, far away from the bullet that torn the air. Sasuke kicked the guy's gunhand and put his own gun out, ready to shoot as well, but he didn't see the guy with the red sweater had his gun pointed at him.

"Stop moving or I shoot!" he said, his voice trembling.

"Don't talk and act you idiot!" the man with the blue jacket answered.

Sasuke could shoot, and he was totally sure the guy wouldn't shoot - he looked like a kid who had no idea how to use a gun, and it was no surprise to see he was the one who missed shooting Naruto's comrade. But he hesited, as he couldn't be sure the gun wouldn't work on its own and hurt, say, Naruto. The hesitation was all the man with the blue jacket needed to take back his own gun, and before Sasuke could shoot on him, the guy with the red sweater shot and missed Sasuke only from a few inches. The man with the blue jacket put his gun on Sasuke's head, and would probably have shot if...

"Drop the gun, NOW."

Naruto immobilized the guy with the read sweater, and considering the blood that was flowing on his face and the fact he was barely standing straight, Naruto probably hit him when Sasuke didn't notice. He put his gun on the guy's head, and Sasuke must admit it, he looked terrifying and ready to shoot. Anyone could be fooled by this face, and for one second, Sasuke wondered if Naruto really didn't kill anyone before. He would be surprised if Naruto did, but something about this face was managing to make him doubt.

The man with the blue jacket however only snickered.

"Like I'd care about him."

Naruto looked surprised, and Sasuke's anger rised right away. The good thing was that Naruto at least did a good diversion, and Sasuke was able to kick the man and push him away.

"And you'd call yourself a man of honor." Sasuke said coldly, as he saw the man on the ground. He put his gun on the man's head and was about to shoot. "A Man like you who would sacrifice a brother doesn't deserve to live."

He was ready to pull off the trigger, but Naruto got in the way.

"Sasuke, please!" he exclaimed.

"Get away from my sigh, Naruto." Sasuke answered coldly, his gun still on the man with the blue jacket, and from the corner of the eyes he saw that the guy with the red sweater was holding his face on the ground.

"There must be another way!" Naruto pled. "We can put him in jail, don't stain your hands-"

"Shut the fuck up." Sasuke replied with irritation as he pushed him on the side. He didn't need Naruto's savior speech at the moment.

Naruto was looking at him with those big confusing eyes, and Sasuke didn't care less about it. This was the right thing to do, Naruto just had to face it. At least, he was glad that Naruto seemed to understand, because, even if he looked like it was hurting him deeply, he started to move out of the way. However, focusing too much about Naruto's reaction, Sasuke didn't see the man moving to catch Naruto from behind and pulling his own gun in Naruto as he was immobilizing him.

"NO BODY MOVES!" the man shouted, putting his gun on Naruto's head. "MOVE AND I KILL HIM."

Everything in Sasuke's brain stopped to work when he realized in which situation Naruto put himself into. He couldn't even think clearly about what to do.

"Drop the gun." The man yelled. "Drop the gun NOW."

Naruto wasn't a friend. He wasn't a member of his family. He was a cop and Sasuke should have killed him the first day they met again. If he'd let Naruto die today, all trouble would be whiped away.

And yet he didn't think about it twice when he put the gun on the ground.

The man seemed relieved, and Sasuke could see his hand on the gun trembling. He couldn't help but look at Naruto, and he wanted to be angry at him, so pissed off, but he couldn't. The only thing he wanted was to pull him away from the one that kept him hostage. Naruto looked scared or shocked, or any valid feeling he could have at that moment. The man started to laugh, and he decided to put his gun on Sasuke, his arm still around Naruto's chest.

"Goodbye, "Sasuke"!" he said with a visible panic. His hand was still trembling, and Sasuke knew he could avoid the bullet, and knock the gun off. However, he didn't need to get ready for that, because before he even saw that coming, Naruto crushed his agressor's foot, which seemed to take him by surprise, and Naruto didn't let him a moment to rest, as he turned to punch him in the stomach and tear the gun away from this man's hand, then, put it on this man's head.

The man looked frightened, Naruto looked just as much shocked about what he just did. On the other hand, Sasuke caught himself to stare at Naruto ways too much, surprised. What he just saw, it recalled him a bit of when Naruto and him met, on that port. He realized that, since he recognized him, he only saw him like the child he used to know, the chubby smiling innocent teen, with a big smile and big dreams. Now, he was finally seeing the man.

"Naruto..." he called, still surprised about it, picking up his gun on the process.

"DON'T SHOOT ME!" the man put himself on his knees. "DON'T SHOOT ME!"

Sasuke rolled his eyes and knocked the man up by hitting him on the head. He fell on the ground and Naruto took a deep breath of relief, putting the gun down, and he may had been a bit numb by all this pressure because he lost a bit of his balance. Sasuke caught his shoulder to keep him up.

"You're alright?" Sasuke asked, and Naruto answered with a nodd. "Okay. I'm going to call you a cab, you'll go home okay?"

"What are you going to do?" Naruto asked.

"You don't want to know." Sasuke just replied, and he saw Naruto's energy being drained away from his eyes. "You're not used to all that, are you?"

Naruto shook his head. "It's rarely got that intense on field yet."

Sasuke nodded and took his phone out of his pocket. He called a cab right away, and he looked at Naruto who seemed to realize what he just lived.

"You never killed anyone before, did you?" Sasuke asked a bit out of the blue when he finished his call.

Naruto shook his head. "And I don't intend to."

"You're a fool if you believe you can do this job without even pulling the trigger."

"I'm just good at being a fool, thank you." Naruto grumbled as an answer, and it seemed his thoughts were being a bit clearer.

Sasuke couldn't help but smile at such a childish anwer, but he managed to erase it from his face right away.  
"Go back home, okay? You had enough for one day."

* * *

His flat looked darker than usual. The lamp that broke the night before was probably the reason, but Naruto couldn't help but see his whole day summarized with this darkness.

Lied on the sofa, he was patting the head of his cat, who himself found his place on Naruto's belly. The purring of the animal was the only thing that made Naruto feel comfortable.

Sasuke probably killed the two guys after he left. He told him he was going to do so, after all. Naruto was a good man. He thought that everyman could deserve to live, and that their punishments should be jail over death. Sasuke didn't have the same morals, and he saw it in his eyes today. He was faced to what Sasuke had become, to the member of the mafia that he was now.

It should have been enough for Naruto to stop reaching for him - just like the fight the other day was a bother. The day had been so blurry that Naruto didn't even manage to make it have sense in his own head, but what was coming back all the time were the same things. If Sasuke was obsessed with doing his job, he spent most of the time to protect him, either from the guys that were supposed to attack them, or from being accomplish of those killings. Naruto remembered when he was hostage, and his whole panic about the possibility of dying wasn't even as big as the one he felt when Sasuke put his gun down. Most of the fightings could be summarized by Naruto not knowing what to do until Sasuke was probably in danger in which case his body moved on its own.

Sasuke Sasuke Sasuke Sasuke. In the end, it was the only thing that was making sense in his head. He could think about how it meant that his teammates were safe from any attacks, or about the call he gave Kakashi about the fact he lost a lead - and how he got yelled at to not have called backup right away. He could think about how Sakura yelled at him for one hour over phone, telling him how reckless he had been and how worried it made her and Sai, and how Sai who was with her agreed with everything except this last part. He could think about all the lies he had been forced to tell his team lately, but no, that wasn't what was in his mind. What was in his mind was Sasuke, how he changed, and how even those changes didn't make Naruto want to loose him. Instead, he wanted to know him more, like a new person. Sasuke lived in a different kind of world than he did, that was a fact he established when they were at the cafeteria. And Naruto wanted to know more about it instead of taking it for granted.

Whatever he wanted, Sasuke wouldn't let it happen, anyway. He didn't want Naruto around nor involved. There was a wall between them, built around Sasuke, and it wouldn't let Naruto in.

Someone knocked at his door, and Naruto carefully moved Kurama on his side - which provocked the cat to put his claws out right into Naruto's belly which made him grimace. Once the cat decided to ignore his master after such a bad treatment, Naruto went to the door and opened it to his best friend, who had his hands full of food and video games.

"Tonight is Zombie night!" Kiba said as he showed up his Resident Evil's games. "Ready to get your ass kicked?"

"Don't think so full of yourself." Naruto felt his lips went wide into a smile as he let him come inside.

He took the food from Kiba's hands and put it on the table in front of the sofa, as Kiba was already concentrating on putting on the video games.

"Sometimes I wonder if you don't come over more for the console or to actually see me." he joked.

"Definitly coming for the console." Kiba answered and Naruto threw him a pillow as a reply.

Actually he definitly forgot that Kiba was supposed to come over, but he was glad it was the case. An evening with Kiba was the best thing that could happen to change his mind.

Kurama came back in the living room, and Naruto had to put him away from the table as he was trying to put his nose in some of the boxes. As an answer, the cat decided to cling at his arms and not let him go until Naruto put the cat on his knees.

"Told you that dogs were better." Kiba snickered seeing this mascarade.

Naruto stuck his tongue out and grumbled as he felt his phone vibrate again. It was probably Sakura again, who was insisting for one hour now to come over to check if Naruto wasn't hurt.

Instead it was a text from an unknown number, which made Naruto frown but as soon as he read it, a smile came on his lips and was determined to not leave his face.

"So we play or you're afraid of me?" He said to Kiba as he was registering the number.

"Pfft - like I'd be!" Kiba replied and he threw one of the controller to Naruto.

For the rest of the evening, Naruto didn't care about anything that happened today. The only things on his mind was how to beat Kiba's ass, and this text that was coming back in his head, forcing his smile to stay, every couple of seconds.

**_"Hope you got home safely._**  
**_-S"_**

And it was enough for Naruto's stupid smile to stay for hours.

* * *

**Author's note: Here it is! I hope you enjoyed it and that it was less heavy that I think it is! See you next chapter!**


	4. 4 - Everything Has Consequences

Helloooo my dears!

Remember when last time I told you I was NEVER gonna write too much again?

Well guess who just wrote a 18k long chapter?

I wanted to do a chapter for Naruto's birthday, and not only couldn't I get it out on Naruto's birthday, but it turned out to be REALLY TOO LONG. So instead of making a really long chapter, I decided to cut it in the middle, so it is easier to read. I hope you still enjoy those two chapters that are in fact one!

Chapter 5 will shortly follow (as I wrote it directly as a continuation, I don't feel like making you wait.)

Hh, I hope it will please you, as I think it might be a bit boring. If you liked it, please, don't mind reviewing so I see if it makes sense.

Also, Sasuke and Naruto don't really talk in this part of this chapter, but keep reading, you'll enjoy it!

So, I want to thank all of those who reviewed lately: **Kiki2222, Saku-ann, Shia Naru, Killua17**, and especially **Letsusura** and **Jeamour** who gives me the best encouragement (by sending me a message every few days to make sure I write) (don't get friend with those two) (they are too perfect to handle)

Also, special thanks to my Friend **Lee** (that you can find on tumblr under the url **Proud-ninja**) for being my main inspiration for Kiba. You don't know how much she helped me to write him.

**Warning**: I still didn't turn as an english speaker between those chapters, so sorry for the mistakes.

**Warning 2:** Not much with this half of the chapter, but really a lot with the second part, There are a lot of sex talks. A lot. Like, yeah, if you don't want to talk about sex... Geez, my dear. I'm so sorry. The Mature Rating is really a lot involved in those chaps.

Well, I hope you enjoy it tho 3

* * *

**4- Everything Has Consenquences**

* * *

October took his time to come this year, Sasuke thought to himself as he started his day. The weather started to get colder, finally, the leaves were falling from the trees and the wind was howling at night, coming with some rain. Sasuke didn't mind this weather, but he preferred it to this never-ending summer they were having so far.

In the basement of his house, Sasuke was doing his morning training. He wanted to be faster, to be able to shoot as he was moving. The training usually took some hours, the time for him to move between the targets as much as he could. In the end, all of them were shot right in the middle, and Sasuke wasn't proud of himself. He expected to be better, faster.

"Still doing the best scores here, boss, eh!" He heard Suigetsu's voice coming closer from him. "No wonder you are the best shot here."

Sasuke didn't answer and put his training gun back in place, not even looking at Suigetsu. If Suigetsu wanted something, he wouldn't be long to speak anyway.

"I just heard about what happened, a few days ago." Suigetsu said, coming closer. "This story about those kids who tried to shoot the police."

And he had to come to talk about it. "What about this?" Sasuke asked coldly.

"I've heard that you've killed them properly." Suigetsu replied with his shark smile. "Not even a second thought, that was what to expect with you."

Sasuke rolled his eyes and looked at Suigetsu. "Come to the point."

Suigetsu looked at him for a few seconds before sighing. "I don't get it. Why wouldn't we let them alive? Doing this dirty work and killing those bitches?"

"They were exposing us." Sasuke simply replied. "Breaking our codes."

"But the police is always gettin' in our way!" Suigetsu replied. "Why don't we just get rid of 'em?"

"You should revisit your definition of Always." Sasuke rolled his eyes again. "They never do that, except when someone is dumb enough to expose us - like those two did."

Suigetsu grumbled and put his hands on his pockets. Sasuke could see he wasn't convinced, but he didn't try to argue more, probably knowing it would be more a trouble than anything else. Sasuke on the other hand tried really hard to not think about everything that happened that day - not in front of one of his subordinates.

"Your brother wanted to see you today." Suigetsu finally sighed. "Guess he wants to congratulate you for your wonderful work."

"I'm gonna see him after practice then." Sasuke replied. "Is that all you wanted to say?"

"Eh, you're really hard to talk to, aren't you boss?" Suigetsu mocked, but then the buzzing of Sasuke's phone raised his attention as he frowned. "What's that?"

Sasuke felt his insides go tighter as he took his phone. "None of your business. Don't you have anything to do?!"

"Tch you're really a killjoy." Suigetsu pouted.

He glanced at the phone, but seeing Sasuke wouldn't turn it on while he was still in the room, he finally sighed and left the place to go to his own work. Once he was alone, Sasuke released a big breath he didn't realize he was holding. He sat on the table next to him and looked at the text he received.

**"How much time can you work before your head starts to explode, geez."**

A faint smile went on Sasuke's face, and even if he tried to repress it, he couldn't help but read the text Naruto sent him over and over again. All he was seeing was Naruto, probably having trouble at his work place, and it was making him maybe a little too much happy. Like every texts Naruto sent him so far.

A few days ago, it was something important for Sasuke to keep his distance with Naruto and never - _ever_ - use the phone number Naruto gave him. Instead, he broke the promise to himself when they came back home after the case they worked on together. After killing those two guys, Sasuke had to clean the mess, coming back home and explain everything to his brother - or at least, everything minus Naruto, because there were no way he would talk about him to his brother. But then when he ended up in his room, alone in silence, away from all his duty, a strange feeling took his throat and it took a few minutes for him to realize he ended up thinking about Naruto and what happened to him after he left.

He called a cab, to bring him home, looking at Naruto having a backfire of the adrenaline that rose in the fight. There were no way Naruto wouldn't end up home safely, but yet, for some big ten minutes in his room, Sasuke felt bad thinking he might not have come home yet. The decision that came to him didn't manage to leave his mind, even if he was screaming to himself to not let it happen. When he first typed the numbers on his phone, he felt his heart beating into his ears, and he looked at the white numbers on the black screen for ways too long. What the fuck was he even doing. He couldn't bring himself to go on the phone button and his entire mind was burning only thinking about it. He tried so hard not to call him, nor text him, and now it was even harder to stop it from happening. Finally he went to a compromise with himself by texting him instead. Part of him wasn't sure why it was a better thing, but he tried to shut it off in order at least to torture himself less. If his pride was suffering from texting him, it would be worse than if he wasn't doing anything.

But yet again another problem showed up when he realized he had no clue on what to write. He didn't want to seem clinging, he didn't want to show he really cared - because it wasn't the case was it - and he had to say who he was - but he didn't want it to be too obvious. He spent literally ten minutes writing this text, arguing whenever he has to put a period in the end of the text, or if he had to sign his full name or a single letter would be enough. It is only after those ten minutes that he realized that all this stress about a text was ridiculous, and after insulting himself for the following five minutes, he decided to send it without after thought - thing he regretted right away. His heart started to pound for hours, and after that, he took good care into not looking at his phone at least until next morning.

Since then, Naruto had been casually texting him at some point of the days - in the morning, lunch time, and sometimes in the evening as well. Sasuke didn't answer most of those texts, but Naruto didn't seem to mind and was still sending him texts about his days. Sasuke could be annoyed by that, but he finally grew to like it, as it was giving him an overview on how Naruto may feel at the moment - and strangely, this mere idea was more pleasant that he would have admitted. At first he answered only to a text or two - always surprised to see Naruto texting back that fast when he did - and now he always had to restrain himself to text him back.

Today wasn't one of those days however, as Sasuke immediately texted back.

**"Considering the size of your brain I am still surprised yours didn't explode in middle school."**

The answer wasn't long to come.

** "Very funny Mister Ass, I'm glad you took ten years to develop humor."**

** "Nine." **Sasuke typed as a reply.

** "You gotta be fucking kidding me."**

Sasuke repressed a smile and put back his phone into his pocket, not answering after that. He still had things to work on, and as much as talking with Naruto was sort of funny, he couldn't afford losing his serious for too long. He had responsibilities to intend to and he couldn't let Naruto put him away from those.

His brother wanted to see him, anyway. So he probably should head to him right now - they were having problems with others families right now, and they had to work on it while they still could.

* * *

If lunch time had already come and therefore, they should be on a break, Naruto didn't feel like his partner was giving him any rest. They had to spend the morning into the archive, as their boss figured it would at least make them think about something else than the case they should be working on. Sai, who just came back from the hospital, and couldn't really move heavy stuffs, was always sorting the files and the papers, while Naruto got the unfair task of moving the boxes to the highest shelves. Even worse than just carrying the boxes, however, listening to Sai bitching about being put in the archive instead of investigating on their case was starting to drive Naruto crazy, and he couldn't even feel his brain anymore. Around noon, one of their fellow comrades, Yamato Teushi, came to invite them both to lunch, and even though Sai was arguing they still had a lot of works, Naruto accepted just like his life depended on it. Just seeing the light of the sun was enough to make him happy, even though he missed the now gone weather of summer. Holding his jacket near his mouth, he headed with his comrades to the cafeteria. At first he wasn't really interested in the conversation, and he mindlessly took his phone out of his pocket. Without thinking twice about it, he sent a quick text to Sasuke, and then put his phone back to his pocket. He picked his food, and followed his group to a table. Yamato sighed as soon as they sat.

"Finally!" Yamato exclaimed. "Some rest is well welcomed!"

"You sound exhausted." Naruto pointed out. "Did Kakashi give you that much work?"

Yamato nodded. "You have no idea. Sometimes I wonder if he remembers I'm human."

"It's not like you're going to fight back if he gives you work anyway." Sai pointed out. "Anyone would abuse of your kindness like that."

Naruto snickered seeing Yamato's face falling down. "Sai, be nicer."

"Are you still going to mom' me around, Naruto?" Sai asked with his usual seriousness that just made it even hilarious.

"Yes, totally." Naruto rolled his eyes. "We agreed, you listen to what I say out of the cases, most of the time, I'm more right than you."

Sai shrugged and apologized to Yamato, who mostly managed to make a joke out of it. They started to talk again, which seemed to be about work - sometimes, Naruto even wondered if Sai could talk about anything else - and at some point, Naruto decided he didn't care really much about the conversation. Feeling his phone vibrate in his pocket, he started to smile and he took it off to read the text.

**"Considering the size of your brain I am still surprised yours didn't explode in middle school."**

Naruto restrained a snicker and answered as fast as he could, taking good care to not be noticed by his comrades. Sasuke's answer followed quite fast and Naruto couldn't stop smiling after that. He had realized that Sasuke wasn't really one to answer his texts - and to think about it, it was already the case when they met - so each time it did happen, Naruto felt somehow happier than he should considering a mafia member who was also a cold-blood murderer would take the time to text him back. Yet, even thinking that would not erase the stupid smile Naruto felt on his lips. Smile which didn't escape his partner's attention.

"What is happening to you again?" Sai sighed, totally jaded. "It's like you fell in love with your phone lately."

"Shut up Sai." Naruto rolled his eyes.

He put his phone back on the table and kept eating, but his partner didn't stop here. "You're not even leaving your phone nowadays" He pointed out. "Each time you're between works you're texting. Did you finally find a girlfriend to take care of your d-"

"Sai." Yamato called and Sai shut up right away. "Naruto is probably planning his birthday, that's all."

Naruto blinked and raised his look toward Yamato who had a huge smile on his face. He checked the day on his phone and realized, quite to his surprise, that they were actually the 8th of October. When did the time fly that fast?

"... You forgot about it." Sai pointed out seeing Naruto's face. "How can someone forget its own birthday?!"

"How can someone forget where he parked his car when it was the only one in front of the shop he came into?!" Naruto recalled him and Sai sent him a death glare Naruto accepted with the brattiest face he could do.

"You're turning 23 right?" Yamato asked and Naruto nodded. "What did you plan to do?"

"I don't know." Naruto shrugged. "Kiba plans something every year, I don't bother planning."

He heard Sai's muffled rasp, which immediately bothered Naruto. «Thanks for your comment Sai." Naruto grumbled.

"I didn't say anything." Sai answered. "You're interpreting my noises which just show off what I think of your friend."

"Com'on, it's not because you dislike him that-"

"I don't dislike him." Sai cut him off. "I dislike his idea of a party. You may realize, since you end up naked every single time."

"I DON'T!" Naruto yelped and he turned to Yamato for some supports.

The only thing he got was a slight laugh. "I guess it means we're not seeing you at Naruto's birthday party, Sai?"

"Birthdays are silly." Sai rolled his eyes. "Managing to stay alive one more year shouldn't be worth celebrating."

"I'll recall myself to celebrate the day you don't manage that." Naruto snapped back.

"Will you come, Yamato?" Sai asked, ignoring Naruto's reply.

Yamato shook his head and no one said anything about it, as Yamato wasn't really a close friend to begin with. But as his look fell on his phone again, Naruto started to wonder: should he tell Sasuke?

It was probably silly to care about it but... Sasuke was his friend right? Or something like that? Maybe he'd like to... Nah it sounded silly. Why would he recall that to Sasuke? It's not like Sasuke was actually doing stuff during birthdays, or so Naruto recalled. And who was he kidding, answering a few texts from time to time didn't make him his friend. It just made him someone he texted with. Moreover, thinking a mafia member would take the time for something like the birthday of someone he should have killed earlier... Yeah. Sasuke probably wouldn't care. Right?

For some reason, this one thought was bothering Naruto, as they left the cafeteria after eating. He couldn't help but think about it, even while he was trying his harder not to. Naruto tried to focus on the conversation as they headed back to the office to stop thinking about it.

"So, Yamato, do you know more things about the case?" Sai asked and Naruto frowned.

"The one about those who tried to kill you?" Naruto asked and Sai nodded.

Yamato seemed unease. "You should focus on your own work, guys."

"Say that to my wounded arm." Sai bitterly answered and both Yamato and Naruto felt unease. Naruto knew what happened, even if he couldn't share it. It was a secret he was ready to carry, yet he couldn't forget that Sai was almost shot and that the other members of their team were probably still looking for answ-

"The case had been dropped."

"... WHAT?!"

* * *

The music in the car was goddamn annoying. Sasuke was irritant tapping his fingers on his arms while Itachi was happily driving, mumbling the song from time to time.

"Do we really need to listen to pop song before seeing another family?!" Sasuke finally snapped when another annoying song came on.

"I am sorry I failed your education as a big brother, otherwise you'd recognize the difference between pop song and country music." Itachi replied.

"Is that supposed to be better?!" Sasuke answered with some disgust in his voice, and his brother answered by poking his forehead, like he always used to.

"Foolish little brother." Itachi said with a calming smile. "This is not the music which is important. You need to relax before seeing other families."

"Yeah, right, as I could relax while we're going to see Orochimaru's gang." Sasuke rub his forehead and Itachi's smile fell off a bit.

"Orochimaru's family's knife had been found on a crime scene." Itachi answered seriously. "Considering the lack of caring those two boys had in their murder, I don't think they could have stolen it that easily."

"I understand the concern." Sasuke sighed. "I also wonder who they got this knife, and how on earth did they think involving Orochimaru in their tricky plan was a good idea. They should have known that once provoked, Orochimaru would end up doing something which would be regrettable for every single one of us."

"That's why we need to take good care into not letting Orochimaru do anything stupid."

Sasuke snickered. "Is that what Madara said? You really think our uncle would have the balls to go against one of the only family out there that doesn't accept our authority?"

"Sasuke, don't be condescending." Itachi sighed.

"Oh, I'm gonna be condescending." Sasuke ignored Itachi's glare on him. "Madara can brag all over he wants over how he managed to take control of all the families but he's still letting Orochimaru do absolulty everything he goddamn wants. 'Not letting Orochimaru do anything stupid', yeah, right, totally something we would be able to do." Sasuke stopped to breathe a bit and then looked by the window. "Madara can't deal with the things like our parents used to."

He could feel Itachi concern while he was looking at him - though Sasuke's concern was more on why his eyes weren't on the road instead. Itachi took a few minutes to finally answer. "But neither can we. I know you don't like him, but Madara isn't trying to bring us down when he says we aren't ready to take the lead. We're too inexperienced."

"You're not!" Sasuke slapped. "You can deal with things in much easier ways than Madara! People fear you! And you are the one who managed to put most of the families under control, you-"

"Sasuke." Itachi cut him off. "This isn't that easy, and you know it. I'm not experienced, not as much as Uncle Madara. And even if I was, not many people would take seriously a 28 years old Boss of the most important family down here."

"What's the point into being a Boss if you end up being an old hag before it even happens." Sasuke mumbled, which provoked his big brother to laugh at him.

But Sasuke meant it, he didn't understand. When his parents died, when Itachi was just 19 years old, he totally got why their Uncle took the lead, and all the things that go with it. But as the years went by, as Sasuke knew more about the mafias themselves, he started to wonder why Itachi wouldn't get the lead yet. There was no one out there who managed to deal with the things the way Itachi did. And Orochimaru, this bastard that was ways too powerful to be controlled, was only afraid of Itachi. This was the reason why Itachi and him were on their way to see him. They got questions to ask him, they had to be sure of his plans - and Sasuke couldn't do that alone. Not yet. As much as he admired his brother for it, Sasuke felt bad to be that weak, even if he'll never admit it in front of his brother.

As for Madara himself, Sasuke grew to dislike him more and more within the years. He felt like Madara liked to be the head, and wasn't ready to give it up to Itachi or anyone else, which made Sasuke think of him more of a greedy power hungry man than a guy that cared about the family. Itachi always told him he was looking too far into this, yet it didn't stop Sasuke to grow this antipathy for this guy.

After some minutes of driving, they finally arrived into the place they had to see Orochimaru's family - into a hangar, far from the town itself. There, they found Suigetsu, Juugo and Kisame - Itachi's closest handman. As much as the threat was serious, the Uchiha knew that they couldn't afford being too many to see Orochimaru. This man could be offended quite easily, and bringing too many men would make him think they are trying to go against him - which was the case, but they couldn't afford Orochimaru to know it.

They didn't need many words to be said, as they all knew the threat and the importance of that meeting. They all five entered the hangar, where a few men were also waiting - and Orochimaru right in the middle.

He was a tall man, with those vicious snake eyes that was always making Sasuke uncomfortable. He looked at them, just like he owned them, just like he had control over them. Looking at his subordinates, Sasuke realized he wasn't the only one who disliked it.

"I'm glad you agreed to come." Itachi started, calmly imposing himself. It was better to let Itachi talk.

"I wouldn't miss a talk with you two kids for anything in the world." Orochimaru's slow voice replied, making Suigetsu right behind Sasuke cringe. Suigetsu disliked the guy. They all did.

The snake made a move with his hand which every single of his handmen understood somehow, as they all dispersed outside and around the hangar, at the only exception of the white haired man, Kabuto, who had always been by Orochimaru's side.

"You should do the same with your men." this irritant cold and slow voice started again. "I want this conversation to be private. And to be sure no moose sneaked into my watch."

Sasuke repressed immediately what he thought about and tried to concentrate on his brother, who, with a head movement, agreed into Orochimaru's condition, which lead their three handmen to also move around the hangar. However, as he put his hands into his pockets, he found himself to hold his phone with a little bit of anxiety he managed to not show. He will have to make sure that, if moose had sneaked in, none of them had yellow hair and a perfect talent to get into trouble.

"You might already know why we are here." Itachi continued as he had never been interrupted. "You might have heard of what happened lately on Trader Street."

"Oooh I have." Orochimaru's smile stretched his terrible face. "Two boys who put themselves into the unrealistic task to kill the police, wasn't it?" he turned his look on Sasuke and his smile somehow grew bigger. "I heard the little prodigy took good care of it."

"I did." Sasuke simply answered, holding up Orochimaru's glare with challenge in his eyes. "But that's not our point."

"You want to know if those two little birds came from my personal collection, I suppose." the snake replied, his look travelling from Itachi to Sasuke every single second.

"One of your knives had been found on the scene of the first murder." Itachi started.

"We first thought they were members of another family trying to trick you into this," Sasuke continued, "but considering their lack of preparation and their clumsy work, they might has well have been part of your family."

He definitely couldn't stand the glare the snake was putting on him. "You're clever." Orochimaru said slowly. "You would both be good leaders. Your parents would have been so proud."

Sasuke's fingers tensed around his phone and repressed his emotions to show up on his face, but he could feel a frown getting places on his head and this urge to kill. Orochimaru probably noticed. He had the smile of someone who noticed those kinds of things.

"You're avoiding the subject." Itachi stated calmly, pushing Sasuke to look at him. He didn't even seem affected by Orochimaru's words; he didn't even seem to care. Somehow Sasuke envied him. He wished he could stay calm like that on those subjects. What a shame he couldn't. A shame. Sasuke wouldn't let himself be the shame of his family. He took control over himself again.

"Those two boys where beginner." Kabuto, the white haired man, stated instead. "Sir Orochimaru didn't even know them."

Sasuke had to hold an insult. The more he heard about Orochimaru's methods, the more he disliked the guy - and he disliked him already so much it was an achievement it was still happening. Even if he didn't know personally each of their handmen, he met them all. How couldn't you know what you call your family? Orochimaru didn't even care about them all. About his "collection". It was making Sasuke sick.

"My turn." Orochimaru said again with his irritable calm and slow voice - Sasuke hated this voice. "Whoever those kids are, they put us into trouble. Isn't it in the Uchiha's code to always protect the others families from the likes of the police?"

"We took care of it." Itachi replied without hesitation. "You have nothing to fear."

"I don't doubt your abilities to hide everything. I doubt the police will not stop after the murder of their kinds."

"We took care of it." Itachi repeated with lack of patience that erased Orochimaru's smile. "We don't do into details."

"At least something we got in common."

The snake started to move, slowly, as if he intended to turn around the two Uchiha. This kind of attitude was mostly done in order to show his superiority. Orochimaru was looking down on them. Sasuke could feel his anger boil into his whole body, making his hands tremble around his phone, wishing he could put them around his gun. However, Itachi didn't even blink. More he was seeing how his brother behaved, more Sasuke could understand why he was feared, even by Orochimaru. Nothing seemed to cause him any trouble. Nothing seemed to affect him. He was intimidating. It was hard to believe this was the same man that listened to country music to calm himself or who casually woke his brother up with cold water.

"Then you see, it was the least of things I needed." Orochimaru started. "I have enough trouble lately, with the new restrictions from the Senator, getting on the way of my business."

"You are not going to be in trouble because of this knife, I can assure." Itachi replied.

"And I can believe it." Orochimaru smirked. "However, it is one more trouble that made me think I need to do something against all of it."

"Something?" Sasuke asked. "What do you have in mind?"

He was probably not enough subtle, as Itachi looked at him from the corner of his eyes. He probably should have let Itachi talk, yet the words left his mouth without him to be able to restrain it. .

"I need to make it clear to the Senator that I have control. Not him." Orochimaru smirked.

"And how do you intend to do that?" Itachi asked.

"I have my ideas. Those kinds of men can easily be manipulated if you know where to attack them."

"You shouldn't try to attack the Senator." Itachi warned. "It will only bring attention to your family."

"I don't intend to attack him." Orochimaru shrugged. "I intend to attack what he wants to protect the most, so much he did everything so no one knows about them."

"His family." Sasuke realized. There were rumors about it, but no one knew much. He wasn't surprised, on the other hand, that Orochimaru found a way to know.

"This is insane." Itachi stated still in this calm threatening voice. "Whatever you might win won't worth the exposition."

"A good scare is always worth it, on this kind of man." Orochimaru smirked. "I don't warn you to have your advice. I warn you so you keep doing your job into protecting us."

"We don't have to protect a Family that put itself into trouble like that!" Sasuke reacted. "There is much more than just intimidations here, you're attacking innocents, people who had nothing to do with anything, and exposing your family in the way."

"As I said, I don't need your point of view, little boss." Orochimaru insisted on those last few words and Sasuke gritted. "Just as much as you know how to handle the police, I know what I'm doing. So stay to your place." he then turned to Itachi. "You should warn your boss about it."

Itachi stayed silent for a little moment and Sasuke was waiting for him to react, to interfere, to go against it - anything actually. He didn't except that Itachi opened his mouth for those words: "Whatever. Do whatever you want. Just don't put yourself into trouble we wouldn't be able to get you out of."

Sasuke's mouth opened in surprise and his eyes went wide.

"I'm glad we agree on that, Itachi." Orochimaru's smile went just as wide as Sasuke's stupefaction.

"I still want to be sure of what you are doing." Itachi continued. "None of us want to be in trouble, do we?"

"Sure." Orochimaru hissed just like a snake. "We'll keep you informed."

"We will take good care into this, you can be sure of that." Itachi said in a tone that didn't allow the other one to answer him.

"So we're done?" Orochimaru asked.

"Done."

Itachi started to move toward the door, and Sasuke stayed for a few minutes, looking at him like he went crazy. He couldn't show how he disagreed with his brother in front Orochimaru, but he couldn't let it be done either. This was insane! If they wanted to protect the mafias from the police, they couldn't let this family get into trouble with the Senator! If there was a way to expose them the most, this was it! And whatever family he got, it wasn't worth the scare! It was an old thing, in the mafia, to threaten the family of those you want to intimidate, Sasuke had always been against that but it existed. He didn't get however how ITACHI, from all people, could let it happens!

"Itachi!" Sasuke caught him outside, while Orochimaru and his men were far and while their own handmen came closer to them. "Why did you agree?!"

"We had no other choice." Itachi hissed. "And I know what you're thinking!" he cut Sasuke before he even started. "And I think the same too. But he'll do it anyway, and if we don't show our support, we won't know how it would develop."

Sasuke cringed. "I get it! But... We're talking about the Senator! It would be too much trouble!"

"I know." Itachi sighed, and they saw that Juugo, Suigetsu and Kisame were drinking their words. "But if the Senator did restriction against the drugs deals, the prostitutions and the large corruptions, that is to say, all of Orochimaru's business, we're not going to be able to stop him."

"So, what, we let it happen?!"

"We let it happen."

* * *

"What do you mean, the case had been dropped?!"

"Sai, calm down..."

"Calm down? Calm down?! I was SHOT, don't tell me to calm down!"

Naruto bit his lip as he was watching Sai getting angry at their boss, Kakashi. This last one wasn't really fighting back, he should know what Sai felt like.

"How could you even drop it?" Naruto raised his voice for the first time in the conversation, to Kakashi. "One of us died. Sai had been shot. It's been a few days since the case started, you said it yourself, we might be in danger."

"Exactly." Kakashi sighed. "You are all in danger as long as we investigate on that."

"We were in danger BEFORE that!" Sai answered. "We will stay in danger now!"

"Sai." Kakashi grumbled. "This is more complicated than that. Our superiors wanted us to dro-.."

"YOU are our superior!" Sai lost his temper.

"And I have superiors are well!" Kakashi replied.

"Do they only hire INCOMPETENTS for this work?!" Sai replied.

"Sai, please!" Naruto said between his teeth.

Sai bit his lip and looked at Kakashi, trying to calm it down. Kakashi seemed slightly pissed by this.

"Look, you two are too inexperienced." Kakashi started calmly. "Sai - you almost got shot and you shouldn't get involved after that. As for you Naruto."

Naruto blinked. "Me?"

"You. You took no care whatsoever and you ran into the enemy. You should have been more responsible."

"He tried to attack us again!" Naruto complained. "In a hospital, you wanted me to not.."

"You can't even protect your own life, Naruto." Kakashi cut him. "In fact, I shouldn't let you work, both of you. Sai, you should still be resting..."

"I'm perfectly fine!" Sai cut.

"Yeah right, and Naruto, you are lucky you didn't get suspended."

"Suspended?!" Naruto's eyes went wide.

"Yes, Suspended." Kakashi sighed and he put his elbows on the table. "So listen to me, both of you: You have nothing to say on the case. The fact it has been dropped doesn't concern you." He cut before Naruto or Sai started to talk "It DOESN'T. So you should both come back to your work."

His tone didn't seem to allow any answer, and both Sai and Naruto had to leave the office after that. Sai was really in a bad mood and started to complain as soon as Kakashi's ears were out of reach.

"I can't believe they would ACTUALLY do that!" Sai started to hiss. "Can't they even do their job okay?!"

"I can't believe it either. " Naruto bit his lip. "What the hell is that.."

"I don't know, seriously I don't." Sai answered and he gritted his teeth. "But if they think I'll forget it that easily..."

Naruto nodded mindlessly and let Sai continue to be angry about it. In some ways, Naruto was really glad the case was dropped. It only meant that Sasuke was out of trouble at the moment and that everything would be fine after that. To be honest, it was his main concern at the moment. Yet, he had to admit he couldn't understand it. If he didn't know the guys who were against them were dead, or that Sasuke had anything to do with it whatsoever, he would have been just as angry as Sai. Someone was dead after all. Just thinking about how they found back the corpse was making Naruto want to vomit. How couldn't they investigate on it? They didn't KNOW she had been avenged. They didn't know a thing. This secret seemed heavier on Naruto's shoulders, but in the same time, his will to keep Sasuke out of trouble was ways stronger.

But yet, Naruto's curiosity was raised. Why would they drop the case? Except if... If Sasuke took care of it? It could be something he could do... Quickly, and without being noticed by Sai, he sent a quick text.

**"Case dropped. Do you have anything to do with that?"**

Though he heisted to send it, he did it anyway, erasing the text from his phone before anyone saw it. He didn't want Sasuke to be in trouble. A few minutes after he sent the text, his phone rang - but it wasn't Sasuke.

"Hey, Kiba!" Naruto answered, leaving Sai with a simple head movement to go outside. "What's up?"

"The greatest party of the century, here what's up!" Kiba started to laugh on the other side of the phone.

"Wasn't the greatest party of the century during your last birthday?" Naruto chuckled.

"The one where Sakura ended up so drunk you were forcing her to keep her clothes on until YOU decided to do a strip tease in the club and that actual ladies came to buy us drinks thanks to that and that I got lucky enough to find that really flexible girl who was a yoga teach-"

"Yeah, that one." Naruto face palmed himself in shame of those cute reminders.

"Alright, so I'm phoning you for the SECOND greatest party of the century." Kiba continued. "So, tomorrow Night, to the Sharin-Club, we prepare all together your coming into the 23rd years of your existence - hoping you could find some others things to come into obviously."

"... Did you really just do a sex joke?"

"I totally just do a sex joke."

"Geez, guy, this one was kinda too big to pass." Naruto said, but as he heard those words come out from his mouth, he knew he was going to regret them.

"This is not what you were saying last night." Kiba replied, and Naruto chuckled to this terrible innuendo. "So, what about it?"

"You know my birthday is the Tenth and not the Ninth." Naruto pointed out.

"I totally know that. I also know that you spend the evening of your birthday with your family and that there is NO WAY we do a party during the day. And I think I'm the one who's gonna be killed if you show up at a family event totally drunk."

"But with a hangover it is totally fine, right?" Naruto couldn't help but laugh.

"Are you kidding?" Kiba laughed as an answer. "They would be THANKING ME if you start to fall asleep into your plate just like you do when you're hangovering!"

"I don't think that's a word." Naruto pointed out.

"I don't think that I care." Kiba replied. "Anyway, we'll be with you at midnight! So we will be the first ones to welcome you to your new year!"

"Who's gonna come?"

"Well, probably you if you still think that I'm hot - you know you can say it, I know you got a hidden crush on me anyway, you can admit it."

"Impossible." Naruto just said. "I was taught not to lie."

"You freaking asshole." Kiba insulted him on the other side of the line.

"Is that really okay to insult someone on their birthday?"

"Your birthday is in two days, stop acting like a little king." And there were a moment of silence before Kiba gasped "Oh my god I have an idea."

"What?! WHAT IDEA?" Naruto started to freak out, as Kiba's ideas were never anything good.

"Well, you'll see tomorrow." Kiba chuckled. "I'm a goddamn genius."

"There's one half of your brain missing, stop calling yourself a genius." Naruto called out. "I don't like your idea!"

"You don't even know it!"

"It is probably nothing good for me!"

"PFf, I'm the one organizing your birthday; of course it's not going to be any good for you." Kiba answered.

"Who's going to see the humiliation then?"

"I prefer to call it the piece of art I'll shape you into." Kiba replied. "The old from High School would be here. Do you need to invite anyone else?"

"Nah it'll be fine I guess." Naruto felt his smile go down as he spoke.

"Peeeerfect! See you tomorrow then, 9pm! Don't be late!"

"Pff yeah right." Naruto replied. "Bye."

They stopped the phone call and Naruto looked at his phone screen - no answer from Sasuke. Obviously. He sighed and he looked at the sky for a few seconds. Why couldn't he stop thinking about Sasuke when it came to his birthday? This was so dumb. That wasn't like they were used to do anything when they were young - Sasuke didn't care about birthdays, and Naruto didn't have friends party to which he should invite Sasuke. But here it seemed so different. Probably because Naruto felt like he just found back a friend and he didn't want to let go. But that wasn't that easy. Sasuke wasn't thinking just like others people. Sasuke wasn't like others people, period. And even worse, he wasn't like anyone else in Naruto's eyes. He shook his head and tried to focus. There was no point into making a big deal out of it. It was just his birthday. No reason for it to be important in anyway. Huh.

* * *

They stayed a long time all together after seeing Orochimaru. Suigetsu, Kisame, Itachi, Juugo and Sasuke decided to take care of a few things here and there before leaving, and as Sasuke decided to come home in Juugo's car - less noisy, and there were NO WAY he'd listen to country music or whatever Itachi called those things again. As soon as he locked himself in Juugo's car as well, he remembered one of the main reasons he didn't want to be with his brother at that moment - he needed to check on Naruto.

Sasuke had to come to that conclusion: he may - just may - care a little more about Naruto that he would actually admit. Since that one day, with those two guys, when they worked together actually, he could feel that he wasn't behaving the way he should. It was kind of annoying, especially when this fear of not knowing if Naruto was safe or not took over him earlier in that hangar. After all, didn't he meet Naruto because he was... moosing around? Naruto was lucky that day Sasuke couldn't pull the trigger.

As Sasuke got his phone out of his pocket to send a quick text to Naruto, he realized he actually got one from the blond boy a bit earlier today - and considering the hour in which it was sent, there was no way Naruto could have been spying on Orochimaru and therefore, getting into trouble as Sasuke feared a bit earlier. Sasuke released a relieved sight and he read the text.

**"Case dropped. Do you have anything to do with that?"**

Sasuke frowned as he read that and he tried to make sense of it. It was really rare that Naruto send him anything quite serious like that. Actually, it was probably the first time ever he did. It was quite surprising in itself. As for the meaning of the text, Sasuke didn't need to think twice about it. Itachi said it himself a bit earlier today, they took care of it. Sasuke wasn't the one who managed to do it but yeah, it was definitely his family's actions here. He wondered if he should tell Naruto though. The answer didn't really come to him, but it was at least sure that if he did answer, it wouldn't be through a text. He sighed and finally got his phone back into his pocket, without answering, and he almost jumped of his place when he heard Juugo talking.

"It's pretty rare to see you texting someone." The handman said as he was looking at Sasuke thanks to the review mirror.

Sasuke blinked. "Get focused on the road would you."

He didn't need his handman to take notice of that. He really didn't. The more he thought about it, the more it was obvious for him that he needed to keep Naruto's existence secret.

"... Does it have anything to do with the blond guy you came to see the other day?" Juugo asked after a bit of silence. "He did give you his number, right? There were numbers on your hand."

From the heat that developed on his cheeks, Sasuke guessed his body reacted badly to the mere idea Juugo remembered that. He totally forgot he brought Juugo with him that one time. He totally forgot that Juugo's memory was kinda impressive.

"This is my business." Sasuke answered, hoping it would be enough to keep Juugo from asking more.

"... alright. Your business." Juugo could have stopped here but he didn't. "But I want to recall you that I work for you more than for the family itself. If there is anything you don't trust the family with, you can trust me."

"Why wouldn't I trust the family?" Sasuke hissed at him coldly, trying to close the debate.

"Because you're keeping secrets and that it seems this blond guy is one of them."

Sasuke felt like his blood decided to do a marathon inside his own body, and he probably turned crimson with that much application from his body to humiliate him.

"I'm not keeping secrets!" Sasuke tried to cover up.

"Alright so who's this blond guy?" Juugo asked, making Sasuke even more uncomfortable.

"You don't need to know!"

"See, secrets."

And he thought it would be calmer in this car than with Itachi.

...

Okay with Itachi it could have been a thousand time worse. Only thinking about it freaked Sasuke out.

"I just want to know one thing," Juugo started with his calmest voice. "You told me not to talk about what happened that night to anyone. Is there any special reason about that?"

"I just don't want him to get involved in the families' drama." Sasuke gritted - he couldn't believe he was actually saying that!

"So he's not related to the Families?" Juugo asked with what seemed to be some surprise.

"He's an old schoolmate." Sasuke sighed and he tensed a little. "Randomly met him again one day, and, huh, we started to talk again. That's all."

Juugo nodded. "I see."

...

That was it?

That was _seriously_ everything?

Sasuke looked at Juugo from his place with ways too much surprise. No more question? Nothing like, "does he know about you being in the mafias" or "could he be a threat to us?" or anything like that? Just... okay?

Sasuke guessed he shouldn't complain. It was better that way. Sasuke took a good breathe and realized, quite to his surprise, that his heart had been pounding for the last few minutes. No wonder his blood rushed like that then. But now that he was thinking again about the conversation, Sasuke actually wondered why he reacted this way. Like, it was just Juugo asking about him. If there were anyone Sasuke trusted to keep his dirtiest secret, it was Juugo. When he thought about it, Sasuke could tell him about Naruto being a policeman and Juugo would just roll with that. It shouldn't have scared him.

... It actually didn't scare him.

As fast as he could, Sasuke repressed the only and really wrong thought that came to his mind at that moment.

That, more probably, he came to care about Naruto in a way that he couldn't even manage to hide. To the point he showed it of when he had no reason to. And it was an embarrassing fact to get across to.

* * *

The next day had been tiring as hell. Naruto wouldn't have been surprised if Kakashi tried to punish them from their bitching by giving them much more works than they could handle. As a result of all of this work, both Sai and Naruto had worked all day and when he came back to his home, the only thing Naruto wanted to do was to take a really, really hot shower. Nevertheless, the odds may not have been in his favor, since as soon as he opened the door of his apartment, a red-hair tornado jumped on him.

"FINALLY!" the girl said while holding him.

"... Karin?!" Naruto was surprised but as soon as he realized it was his cousin, he hugged her back. "Oh geez it's been so long!"

She laughed and went out of the embrace. "I know right? How did you survive without me, seriously?"

"What are you doing here?" He asked with a huge smile. "I thought you were doing your studies aboard!"

"Couldn't miss the birthday of my cousin for anything in the world!" she winked at him. "Plus Kiba is the one organizing your birthday's parties. Couldn't miss that as well."

"And I thought you loved me." Naruto rolled his eyes.

"Yeah right, that's the thing I do, jackass." She hit him on the arm and went back to the living. Kurama, the cat, was still sleeping on the sofa.

"How did you get in though?" Naruto asked.

"You gave me the keys, remember?" Karin rolled his eyes. "God, did you seriously become that old that you can't remember those stuffs?"

"Hey, bite me." Naruto shook his head.

"I'm the one who should say that!" she replied as she sat next to the cat and slowly started to caress his head. "Kurama and I have been waiting for you for hours!"

"Well, sorry I'm working?" Naruto said as he got rid of his jacket. "I'm gonna take a shower, I really need it."

"Yeah right, you smell." she nodded and Naruto threw his jacket to her face as an answer.

After that, Naruto headed to the bathroom to take his shower. He got rid of his clothes and put himself into the hot water for at least ten minutes. Once he was over, he put back his boxer and moved toward his room by the living room to take some clean clothes. But as he was in the living, Karin's voice came at him.

"Who's Sasuke?"

Naruto froze in the middle of the way and looked at his cousin on the sofa. She looked like a James Bond Villain, petting Kurama who moved on her laps, and looking at the object in her hand: Naruto's phone.

"... YOU'VE BEEN SPYING ON MY PHONE?!"

"You let it in the pocket of the jacket you threw at me." his cousin smirked. "Took that as an invitation to check it out!"

Naruto was really glad he erased any compromising text. "Look, give it back." He said as he pulled his hand out.

She shook her head. "Nah. Not until you tell me who he is." She looked at something on the screen and Naruto guessed she was checking his texts. "You send a lot of texts, but he doesn't answer you much. You have a crush on him?"

"FUCK OFF!" Naruto yelled and he went to her, trying to take his phone back.

She quickly got up, which made Kurama fall and spit his rage. But none of the two young adults cared about the pissed off cat. The red hair girl had to run into the room to avoid her cousin, as he was probably going to kill her if he managed to touch her.

"YOU COME BACK HERE RIGHT NOW."

"YOU'RE GOING TO KILL ME IF I DO!" Karin yelled as she tried to hide herself.

"DON'T WORRY I'LL PUT A NICE SENTENCE ON YOUR GRAVE."

For some minutes, Karin managed to avoid him, until she almost ran into Kurama - At least I have a friend here, Naruto thought thinking about how he had to thank the cat latter on - which made her loose her balance just enough for Naruto to tackle her onto the ground.

"Now, the phone!" He asked in top of her.

"You perv', you could at least have put some clothes on before chasing the innocent girl I am!" Karin replied trying to get away from him.

"I wouldn't mind checking the pockets of your ass if you don't give it back NOW so stop testing me!"

The red hair girl moaned as she took the phone from her pocket and gave it back to Naruto, pouting. Naruto's first reflex was to check out the conversation file with Sasuke to see if she did anything, but as the last messages were the casual ones Naruto was sending in the morning and which didn't get any answer, Naruto was relieved. He was less however when he received a text from Kiba.

**"I KNEW YOU WANTED TO SEX ME YOU PERV (my flat tomorrow at 9pm)"**

"Can you let me get up?" Karin asked, and Naruto replied by closing his thighs around her body to close her.

"Did you seriously send to Kiba that I had a wet dream about him?" Naruto's voice was trembling as he was reading the text Karin sent to him.

"Well, actually I sent him "I dreamt you were blowing me - what about making this dream a reality". Is that why you're keeping your dick near my lady parts?"

"I'm. Gonna. Kill. You."

The phone buzzed again as Kiba sent another text.

** "Say hi to Karin from me o/"**

"He recognized it was you." Naruto sighed in relief.

"Of course he recognized me." Karin rolled her eyes and tried to push Naruto again. "God, how fat did you get?!"

As an answer, Naruto laid down on her.

"GET OUT" she yelled. "I CAN'T BREATHE."

"GREAT." he answered and his phone buzzed again.

**"You're probably killing her right now, so do you need me to pick you both up or will you manage to move her corpse to the club?"**

"Crap, we're going to be late. " Naruto said as he finally stood up to go to his bedroom.

"... THANKS FOR THE HAND YOU MORON." Karin yelled as she was still on the ground.

"YOU'RE WELCOME."

* * *

**NEXT PART WILL COME SOON **


	5. 5 - And It Goes On

Hi there! Here we go again, as the new chapter I promised you shortly followed!

Thank you for those who read the previous one and read this one again! I hope you'll enjoy it... As this chapter shows off a bit of my love for my favorite kind of fanfictions. It makes this chapter kind of a filler tho. I hope you'll enjoy it anyway!o/

I'm still thanking those who read my stuffs! I don't put the names on this chapter, as I'm posting it in the same time I post the 4th chapter, but it's really important to me

Note: It's the longest fanfic I've wrote in a long time! Usually, I give up around 25k, and look at it! 47k! This is pretty impressive! Thank you for following it!

**Warning**: I still didn't turn as an english speaker between those chapters, so sorry for the mistakes.

**Warning 2:** SEXUAL TALKS EVERYWHERE - rATING M REALLY IMPORTANT

**Warning 3: As I publish this at the same time I published Chapter 4, make sure you didn't forget to read chapter 4 beforehand! **

Well, I hope you enjoy it tho 3

* * *

**5- And It Goes On.**

* * *

"You're sure it's here?"

"I know what I'm doing idiot."

"Because we seem lost."

"We're not!"

"So where are we?"

"..."

"Called it."

Naruto sent a death glare to his cousin as they were looking around. They were totally late, and probably totally lost, yes. Usually, Naruto went there with Kiba, and it was fair to admit Naruto didn't really pay attention to the road they took each time. He knew it was around there, he knew it, but Karin wasn't trusting him - thus to be fair, Naruto would have done the same on the other way around. They walked down the street a bit before finally arriving in front of the Club which name was glowing in the dark.

"Told you we weren't lost!" Naruto threw to his cousin.

"Thanks your karma for that." Karin rolled her eyes. "If we needed to trust your brain on this one we would still be looking for it."

Naruto ignored her and they moved their way toward the building. As they arrived in front of it, expecting to take too much time to wait with everyone, the guardian in front of the club called them out.

"People are waiting for you inside!" He called, and Naruto recognized him, as it was the guy that welcomed them each time they were coming here.

They thanked him as they walked in, entering the loud and probably already half-drunk Club. They didn't take the time to adjust to the light that Naruto fell an arm around his neck and the weight of his best friend as he screamed in his ear.

"THE MAN OF THE NIGHT IS HEEEEERE!"

He probably already drank a bit, and after that, with some others blurry events, Kiba dragged him to a table where some others people were waiting for them. Sakura was here, with one of her most beautiful dress, along with Rock Lee, Shikamaru Nara and Ino Yamanaka, that is to say, some of their high school friends.

"It's been a while!" Ino smiled as she came close to him to kiss him on the cheek. "Hey there!"

"How can you be late on your birthday party?" Shikamaru asked with his most jaded look.

"Oh give him a break!" Lee answered him instead. "It's his party!"

"Well actually it's Kiba's considering how he's having fun." Naruto pointed out seeing him laughing like crazy.

"How couldn't I be happy after all the blowing you promised me?" Kiba snickered and Karin chuckled as Naruto sent them both a killer glare. No one else seemed to understand what was going on, except Sakura.

"Karin sent a sextext to Kiba earlier today with your phone?" she asked.

"She sent a sextext to Kiba earlier today with my phone." Naruto confirmed which made Ino chuckle.

Before he could even pick up for news, however, Kiba jumped on him with the worst smile he could possibly have.

"So, Naruto..."

"Is that how your idea is going to start? With a "So, Naruto"?" the blond guy asked seeing his friend getting closer to him and not liking it.

Right after that, before Naruto could even think about running away, Karin jumped on his shoulders, putting something on them in the same time, and while he was bothering trying to make her fall, Kiba put something on Naruto's head, alongside all the laughs from the others people on the table. When Naruto managed to get rid of the two of them - and that they both high fived for some reasons - Naruto realized Karin put a cape on him, and when he touched his head, he realized Kiba put a crown on him.

"... "Acting like a little king", huh?" Naruto remembered the talk. "And your genius idea was to dress me like a king?"

"You'll find it genius after a few drinks as well." Kiba winked as he ordered some drinks.

Naruto got out of the cape, but kept the crown as Karin and Kiba deeply insisted on it. When their drinks arrived - all on Kiba's account - they shared the last few things that happened to all of them. Lee was in a sport academy at the moment, and he was happy to tell everyone he was one of the people who was picked up for the national atheism event. Karin talked about her studies in psychology that will probably make her be able to come back studying in the city. Shikamaru didn't have much to say, as he was working at a library and as he put it, nothing ever happens at a library, that was the reason he became a librarian to begin with. As for Ino, she was doing stuffs in the informatics, but to be honest, Naruto barely understood a word when she started to talk - like often, he would say.

"And you, Sakura?" Lee asked after everyone did an overview on what they did lately.

"Too much work, but fine." She chuckled, then turned to Naruto. "Is Sai okay? He didn't answer my last text."

"If you're asking him every two hours if he's fine, it's normal he didn't answer." Naruto mocked her and she started to pout. "He's fine, you know him, it's not getting wounded that will make him stop to bitch about everything in the world."

"He has been wounded?!" Ino asked in surprise. She kinda had a little crush on Sai - _for some reasons_, Naruto and Sakura would both say.

"Yeah, you know how clumsy he is." Naruto shrugged as Sakura tensed. "Nothing of import, Sakura just worries too much about him."

Except Sakura, no one knew Naruto worked in that special section in the police. Everyone knew he was a cop, that was just fine, but none of them, except Sakura, knew the real troubles they were going through. To be fair, he wouldn't have say Sakura if she didn't work in the hospital in which they had to go when they were wounded, and that it was kinda hard to lie to her at this point.

"Pfff we could almost wonder if Sakura had a crush on him at this point." Karin teased.

"I don't have a crush on him!" Sakura replied a little too fast. "Are you crazy, have you seen the guy?"

"Wouldn't be the first time she got a crush on that kind of man." Ino added and Sakura became just as pink as her hair while she kicked them under the table.

"I didn't know about that!" Karin said with a huge smile. "Tell me more!"

"SHUT UP!" Sakura yelled, and looked to Naruto in distress. Ino was probably talking about Sasuke in middle school, as she was with them at that time. And strangely enough, Naruto was with Sakura on that one.

"Raise your hand if you don't care about who Sakura want to fuck." Naruto said as he raised his hand, and Sakura blushed even more and hit him in the same time she raised her hand. Lee and Shikamaru followed, and Kiba and Karin looked disappointed. On the other hand, Naruto saw Ino from the corner of his eyes losing her smile - probably remembering Naruto knew really well who she was talking about.

"You are killjoys." Kiba grumbled. "Looks like my boss."

"Well if your boss is against you talking about whoever you wanna fuck, then I'm all with him." Naruto answered and Kiba stuck his tongue out.

"Your boss is really that terrible, isn't he?" Ino asked in order to change the subject.

"You have no idea." Kiba rolled his eyes. " "_I don't have a social life and I'll make you pay if you have one"_ is written on his face, all day long."

"Sometimes I really wonder how you managed to have this job." Karin chuckled.

"Sometimes I really wonder how he managed to have a job, _period_." Naruto added and Kiba kicked him under the table.

"Screw you, They couldn't even _SURVIVE_ without me, 'kay?"

"Don't you work in a phone company with at least twenty people in the same room everyday?" Lee wondered out loud.

"Oh but you know," Sakura added "The company would have SANK without the irritating voice of our Kiba going "Hello Ma'am, wanna buy some of our products? You're not gonna be fucked by them, except if you want to in which case I can give you my number.""

"Okay, so you stop it right now, it happened only once!" Kiba replied.

They laughed, they drank, they continued the evening for a bit, having as much fun as they could. After a few drinks, Naruto was feeling much happier than he was already, and there was a point where he just took Sakura's hand to put them on the dance floor with him. They laughed and talked for a bit before Naruto asked.

"So, now that there's only the two of us, do you have a crush on Sai?"

"Couldn't you ask it with more tact?!" Sakura replied, as she danced next to him.

"Pff geez, Com'on, it's only the two of us!"

"I don't have a crush on him, I mean it!" Sakura answered, turning pink - or was it because of the lights? "He's an insensitive idiot who put himself into too much trouble!"

"Com'oooon, you're not even funny to tease!" Naruto laughed.

Sakura stayed silent for a moment, looking behind Naruto where Ino and Lee were dancing, before asking with a hesitant voice. "He does look like him though."

"Like who?" Naruto frowned.

"Sasuke." She replied and Naruto's eyes went wide.

"What? Nah!" Naruto started to chuckle. "Sasuke used to have a bit more of common sense."

"Yeah, but I mean, physically." Sakura sighed with relief, probably happy Naruto reacted like that. "Same eyes, same hair, same..."

"Sasuke is cooler." Naruto cut her, then he blinked hearing himself. "I mean was. Well, not cooler, but... Geez, you can't compare Sai and Sasuke!"

Sakura started to laugh. "Did you seriously say Sasuke was "cool"? You used to insult him all the time."

"Well he was a jerk!" Naruto focused, and he actually believed what he said. "But com'on, he's less of a jerk than Sai."

"And he was Hotter." Sakura laughed.

Naruto considered it for a few seconds, and he cursed himself for that instantly. He didn't need to think about Sasuke as a hot person at the moment, I mean, it was freaking SASUKE, and Sasuke was, and still today was, a total jackass. And a childhood friend, which immediately forbidden him to think about him as "hot".

But he is _indeed_ hotter than Sai.

He shook his head immediately and Sakura laughed. "You think that too!"

"Curse you for making me think about a guy I hadn't seen for years as hot." Naruto replied. "You're comparing our memories of a 14 years old boy to our 23 years old comrade."

"Com'on, we both imagine how hot he might have become."

_Yeah I totally know how hot he became thank you_, Naruto heard himself think, and the felt like he started to blush. Nah. Sasuke isn't hot, okay. That's not how it is.

"Screw you." Naruto answered her.

"Com'on, what's the point into having a bi best friend if you can't talk about how hot boys are?"

"I hate you."

Sakura giggled and they continued to dance, until she started again.

"I'm glad it didn't bother you that we talk about him. I saw your face when Ino talked about it, I thought it might be still a bad memory for you. "

"Geez, it's not." Naruto answered a bit unease. "Well, yeah, I just don't want to talk about it like that. To anyone other than you, I mean."

"I get what you mean." Sakura nodded. "Karin wouldn't leave you alone with that if she learnt about your former best friend, knowing her."

_You have no idea,_ Naruto thought, thinking about how she reacted while reading the texts earlier on. Somehow it recalled her of what she said, and what he didn't care about as he was trying to take back his phone but suddenly he was caring about it. Karin asked him if he got a.. _Crush on Sasuke,_ right?

Naruto could at least hope the darkness of the club hid the warm feeling he felt on his cheek. His mind, a bit fuzzy by the alcohol, wasn't taking the information really well. What, in all those texts, made Karin believe such a thing?! This was so stupid! There were no reason whatsoever for her to believe that! This mere idea made Naruto much more uncomfortable than he could admit, and he really wished he could get this idea out of his head. He didn't need to remember it. Not just after considering the fact Sasuke may be hot. It was definitely not the moment for that shit.

He wished he could change the conversation with Sakura until Karin arrived, half running half laughing to Sakura. "GIVE ME YOUR CAMERA NOW!"

"What is that?" Sakura asked, blinking at her.

"I dared Kiba to flirt with the barmaid with his boxer on his head aND HE JUST LEFT TO THE BATHROOM SO I NEED YOUR CAMERA AS SOON AS POSSIBLE."

"... WHAT!"

Sakura and Karin disappeared just as soon as it arrived and Naruto's slow mind took a little time to realize what just happened. He then admitted to himself he couldn't even think about missing that, and tried to find the bathroom or at least the two girls.

"Naruto?" He instead heard next to him, and he knew this voice.

He turned and saw, quite to his surprise, Sasuke Uchiha himself right in front of him. He was wearing a rather close to the body black t-shirt, with long sleeves and that was somehow drawing Sasuke's neck. He was kinda hot. Well. No. Not hot. _Not at all._ It was just a piece of fabric on a really well built body, nothing much. He cursed himself for a few seconds. Damn Sakura and the naughty thoughts she put into Naruto's mind. He shouldn't even have noticed the beautiful shape of this t-shirt _in the first place._

"What is... is everything okay?" Sasuke asked, frowning, looking at the top of Naruto's head.

"Huh? Oh, yes, yes." Naruto could definitely know he was blushing and he took a deep breathe to calm himself. "Why? And, why are you here?"

"I own the building." Sasuke frowned, looking at Naruto in the eyes.

"... You own the building?" Naruto's eyes went wide. "What do you mean you..."

"This is my family's club." Sasuke simply said. "Why are you here? And why...This?"

He touched Naruto's crown with a frown which made the blond one laugh. "Oh that! Well, huh, we're partying with my friends, actually."

"And it is common for you to party with a crown with penises instead of spike on the head?"

Ahahahah. Wait. _What_.

"Did you just say.. penises... on the crown?"

"You didn't know?" Sasuke asked.

".. I didn't." Naruto stayed calm for one second before groaning and taking off the crown - that indeed, had penises instead of spikes. "THOSE BASTARDS THAT'S WHY THEY DIDN'T WANT ME TO TAKE IT OFF."

Naruto was really pissed now, and ashamed. He totally knew by know that he turned crimson, and he sure didn't want SASUKE, from all people to see him like that. Hearing Sasuke having a mocking snicker and seeing this huge grin on his lips didn't help.

"YOU STOP MOCKING ME RIGHT NOW YOU BASTARD!"

"Why would I?" Sasuke replied, his grin growing bigger. "I'm thinking about congratulate your friends at the moment, are they anywhere to be found?"

"YOU CAN GO FUCK YOURSELF MORON." Naruto yelled at him, and he felt himself getting even redder, though he blamed how pissed he became for that.

Sasuke snickered and he put his hands in his pocket to get his phone out.

"Well, it actually explains everything."

"What, what do you mean it explains everything?!" Naruto asked, blinking at Sasuke who was checking his phone for something. Then, the dark haired boy gave his phone to Naruto, this smug smile still on his lips.

Quite to his horror, Naruto ended up reading a text, apparently coming from him, on Sasuke's phone.

**"Cannot help to think about you. Bent. On my bed. Moaning. Because of me."**

Naruto's stupefaction was even worse than what he could even believe. He felt his legs went numb and he was shared between pure anger and pure terror.

"I'm gonna kill her." Naruto mumbled. "I'm gonna fucking kill her and throw her body in the ocean."

"Whoever "her" is, you would get caught if you do that." Sasuke snickered as he took back his phone. "Try acid, it hides the body better."

"I'm seriously going to kill her so if you could NOT give me tips on how to hide the body so I _DON'T_ kill her please!" Naruto grumbled and he face palmed himself. She deleted the text from his phone. Of course she deleted the text from his phone. She was a terrible evil person, she wasn't dumb. Well, not that kind of dumb.

"Are your friends always that sexual with you?" Sasuke asked with this fucking smug smile that Naruto wanted to rip out of his face.

"They're more subtle usually." Naruto grumbled as he crossed his arms to stop making them shake from the annoyance. "Guess they are more annoying because of the birthday party."

"The Birthday party?"

Naruto realized what he just said and he raised his look toward Sasuke. His smile was gone by now and he looked at him, head tilted, frowning.

"Huh yeah." Naruto felt really unease now and he tried to smile to hide it. "It's my birthday tomorrow. So, huh, we're doing it tonight, y'know."

Strangely, Sasuke's silence was ways worse than knowing he spent the whole evening with a dick crown. "Is everything fine, Sasuke?"

"You didn't tell me it was your birthday." Sasuke said as he bit his lip. "Let's move from here." He added, as the new song was more dynamic and brought more people to the dance floor.

"I didn't think it was important for you to know." Naruto answered as they moved on the corner, near the walls. "I mean, it's a day just like the others."

Sasuke frowned and looked at him with those really piercing dark eyes. It was really making Naruto feel uncomfortable.

"What is it?" Naruto asked, frowning.

Sasuke stayed silent a little before a smug smile came back to his lips. "Yeah, I forgot you didn't get the concept of growing up, you brat."

"Asshole." Naruto threw at him, grumbling.

"What do you plan to do tomorrow?" Sasuke asked.

"Partying til after some hours in the morning. Probably gonna sleep til noon and see my family on the evening." Naruto shrugged. "That's what we do every year."

"Do you always have wild party on your birthday?"

"As long as Kiba would be the one organizing them, yeah." Naruto nodded, which made Sasuke frown. "My best friend." Naruto thought he better precise. "He's probably doing some stupid thing right now." He then remembered what he was about to do and looked to the bar where, totally, Kiba was flirting with the barmaid with his quite eccentric Marvel's boxer on the head as a hat. He started to laugh and pointed it out to Sasuke. "Here he is."

Sasuke raised his head and looked at Kiba, as his eyes went wide. He then pinched his lips. "That's your friend?"

"Geez, don't tell me you're such a killjoy it would hurt your ass to not laugh at it." Naruto replied, jaded because of Sasuke's reaction. "You manage to laugh at a crown made of penises but a guy flirting with his boxer on his head..."

Sasuke looked back at Naruto with a surprised glare, before rasping. "He's flirting sillily with one of my employee, you know. I would rather them to be concentrated on their work."

"... Fair enough." Naruto nodded and then he laughed. "So, huh, what are you going to do?"

"Gotta see someone." Sasuke shrugged and looked at his watch to see the time. "Guess it won't be long by now."

"Still working, geez." Naruto shook his head. "Do you even manage to have fun?"

"Who knows." Sasuke replied, rolling his eyes, before taking the dick crown from Naruto's hands and put it on the blond hair again.

"Asshole." Naruto grumbled as a reply.

"What, you prefer those penises in you?" Sasuke replied and Naruto was actually so shocked to hear him say that that he felt his blood rush into his veins again.

"W-DON'T GET THE WRONG IDEAS!"

"Hey, who knows. You could like it. Like..." Sasuke smirked again and he leant a bit closer to Naruto's ear to whisper. "Bent. On my bed. Moaning. _Because of me._"

That. Freaking. _Asshole_. This is the exact same moment his numb brain decided to bring back this talk with Karin about whenever he got a crush on him, and this talk with Sakura about how hot Sasuke may be, and this moment earlier where Naruto's eyes kinda moved on Sasuke's chest. His heart was pounding so fast it was the only thing Naruto could hear, and he pushed Sasuke away, watching him making fun of him and his reaction.

"YOU PERV." Naruto replied which definitely made Sasuke snicker even more. "YOU FREAKIN ASSHOLE I'M NOT THE ONE WHO WROTE THE TEXT DAMNIT."

"Or you're trying to put the blame on someone else?" Sasuke teased even more and Naruto was going to kill him.

"PFFF WHO WOULD WANT TO HAVE SEX WITH YOU YOU BASTARD." Were they really having this conversation _now_?

Sasuke's eyes seemed full of challenge for some seconds. "Actually, many people." He pointed out. "I was just teasing you, but considering your aggressive reaction, must I understand you actually thought about it?"

"You're the second person I'm gonna kill." Naruto simply answered.

Sasuke chuckled before poking Naruto's forehead. "Don't worry, I don't want to fuck you either. Funnier to fuck with your mind instead."

"You're an evil person, you know that?" Naruto grumbled angrily at him.

"That's a personal achievement." Sasuke just shrugged.

Naruto face palmed again, grumbling some insults inside his hand. Why was he even still talking about this text. Sasuke didn't even answer this text, neither did he say anything about all the others meaningless texts. Nor the one about his implication on the last case. Wait...

"Sasuke." Naruto started, trying to catch the dark haired boy's attention. "About, huh, about what I texted you about yesterday..."

"You mean the case?" Sasuke asked, frowning.

"Yeah, that." Naruto nodded. "Do you have anything to do with it dropping?"

Part of him feared Sasuke would run away again - just like that time in the cafeteria; Instead, Sasuke shrugged. "Yeah. We needed to cover our asses on this one."

"And you managed to make the police drop the case?" Naruto asked. "How?"

"Of course we did. And I'm not sharing those kinds of secrets Naruto." Naruto was about to answer something serious when Sasuke leant close to him again and whispered to his ear. "Except maybe on my bed, when any other kind of sounds can come out of my mouth, if you get what I mean."

Naruto hit him on the arm and sent him a death glare. "IF YOU THINK SEXUAL INNUNDO WILL MAKE YOU GET AWAY WITH IT YOU-"

"Are totally right." Sasuke smirked. "Got to go now. Bye."

Without any other single words, Sasuke left Naruto here, moving his body in this sea of other bodies. Naruto couldn't believe in half of all the things that just happened. Fucking Sasuke, with every fucking thing about him, fucking asshole who talked about dicks like it was nothing and who could joke about a sextext while Naruto was troubling with the realization of how hot he thought Sasuke was.

Fucking Sasuke, That's all.

_Literally maybe, tho?_

Shaking his head in order to get this idea out of his mind, Naruto decided to go back to see his friends and joke with them, as he cursed Sasuke in his head all the evening.

When midnight arrived, when the 10th of October finally began, and that Naruto already lost his t-shirt on the loose - it wouldn't be a Kiba's party if Naruto didn't end up at least half naked - each of Naruto's friends started to wish him the best - Kiba, mostly, totally drunk, his boxer still on his head and his shirt who went on the loose, was screaming it, standing up on the bar. Sakura hugged him tight, Shikamaru gave him a pat on the back, Ino bought him a glass of alcohol, Lee was singing the song the loudest, and Karin was taking the pictures. But the most memorable with all those midnight wishes was when Naruto's phone buzzed and revealed a simple message from the boy who didn't answer any of his texts those last few days.

**"And Happy Birthday, Asshole."**

* * *

Back to his apartment, Naruto came to the realization he was maybe a little too drunk, as he had absolutely no idea on how Sasuke came back to him, and absolutely no idea on how he ended up back against the door of his bedroom while Sasuke was holding up his thighs to wrap them around his own waist, taking his mouth in hostage with his. Naruto was holding on to Sasuke's neck, his hands getting lost in the black hair, as he tried to get him even closer to taste him, to play with this tongue a little bit more. As an answer, the dark haired man rubbed his own body between Naruto's legs, which provoked this last one to swallow a moan on Sasuke's lips.

There were little to no space between the two of them, and Sasuke was making good care into making any air between their two bodies unable to separate them. With a movement of hips, Sasuke tightened the pants of Naruto, and the blood rush was so intense that the heat was rising up. Naruto chocked in a moan which forced him to get away from Sasuke's mouth, but this last one knew exactly what to do as it was put on Naruto's neck so he could play with every part of his skin. As Sasuke was taking care of him, Naruto started to rub his hips on the hard cock that was between his legs since the beginning of the intercourse, and he was kinda relieved to feel Sasuke's breathe getting loose on his neck thanks to that.

"O-On the bed, now." Naruto whispered, and Sasuke didn't need for him to beg. He slipped his hands under Naruto's pants and boxer to hold his bottom, and while he was patting the place, forcing Naruto to hold on even more to Sasuke, he took care into lifting Naruto far from the door to finally let him down on the bed.

Naruto didn't let Sasuke some time to rest though, he didn't even fully let him the time to come on the bed already that he kissed him again, with a fiery passion, in such a way he didn't seem ready to let go of Sasuke's tongue. This last one didn't seem to complain, passing his hands under all the pieces of fabric on Naruto's skin. The cold hands Sasuke was moving on his heated-up-by-the-situation skin was one more reason for Naruto to go vocal about it. At some point, against Naruto's will, Sasuke disengaged, provoking a disappointed moan in Naruto, but Naruto didn't stay angry long enough, as Sasuke removed his t-shirt and revealed the delicately built chest underneath. When Naruto thought the heat probably became even worse, and that he was getting maybe a little too tight on his pants at the moment, Sasuke put his knee rights between Naruto's legs, putting a slight pressing on his groin, and he then got rid of Naruto's shirt.

Sasuke wasn't letting Naruto the time to breathe, he immediately attacked the skin again with his sinful mouth. His kisses were devouring Naruto's skin, the casual sucking and licking were driving him crazy. Naruto couldn't even keep up with what HE was doing to Sasuke, moving his hands on his hair while Sasuke didn't let him touching more of him. The dark haired man started to torment Naruto's nipples, one with his cold, terrible hand, pitching and playing, the other with his mouth, licking, slightly biting.

"H-han! N-Not _there_, not.. _Ah_.."

Sasuke didn't listen - or he did, since he did bring closer his knee from Naruto's painful crotch. Naruto didn't even managed to breathe correctly after that, every single of his senses were leaving him, except for the touch, this devil touch who amplified every single caress, every little move Sasuke was doing on his skin.

Naruto tried to hold back his voice, to not be as noisy as he could be, but all his efforts went in the loose when Sasuke slipped his other hand on Naruto's crotch, and started to rub the clothed cock, just as he pitched Naruto's nipple again with his teeth. The sound that came out from Naruto came from the bottom of his throat, and Naruto was shaking, shaking under the pressure, shaking under all the pleasure in which he was forced to bend into. It was getting too tight, ways too tight, if Naruto didn't get rid of this erection he was done, he was fucking done - no, _he needed to be fucked right now._

"Stop teasing me a-and start to be usef-..h-_ha_!" Naruto groaned, while he actually tried to order Sasuke around but this one pressed his hand tighter on Naruto's erected cock.

Naruto wanted to curse Sasuke from the bottom of his lungs. He wanted to give it back, give back all those things that were driving him crazy, but Sasuke wasn't allowing him to. When at some point, Naruto ran his hands on Sasuke's body, this one reacted by taking them and forcing them down up to Naruto's head, tackling him on the bed by the same occasion. Naruto moaned as a complain, a complain that got lost on Sasuke's lips as he kissed him again. Holding him down with one hand, and biting his lips with the tip of his teeth, Sasuke also started to get rid of Naruto's pants. Even submerged by all those intense feelings, Naruto could still feel Sasuke shake in apprehension - him too, was slowly but surely taken over by the pleasure just as much as Naruto was. A smug smile appeared on Naruto's lips, which Sasuke saw when he disengaged from the lips. Seeing that, he frowned and he started handfully to play with Naruto's cock. Naruto moaned, which seem to have been enough for those piercing dark eyes.

Sasuke got his lips on Naruto's ear and whispered. "I told you you'd end up bent, on a bed, moaning because of me."

He then provoked him, bit the ear and going a little faster with his hand, which drove Naruto over the edge, in such a way he was unable to actually go against this sentence. Sasuke didn't stop there however, as he started to go down on Naruto. Naruto's breath went faster as he was seeing Sasuke's face closer from his cock, this smug smile still on his lip. Sasuke looked right at Naruto's eyes as he slightly licked the head of his dick, which raised Naruto's legs a bit under the nervous reaction. The second lick made him shake, and he was biting his lip in order to not moan, not now - what would the neighbors say?

When Sasuke took Naruto's ass with his two hands and put the whole member in his mouth, however, Naruto couldn't give a damn about them anymore and he moaned, groaned, almost screamed - he just couldn't stand all those pleasures. As Sasuke was slowly blowing him, sucking him out, Naruto was feeling even more aroused, especially with those dark eyes looking right at him, watching every weakness moments, and there were plenty. Sasuke knew how to blow, his tongue was just as sinful as any parts of him, and while every little movement were perfect, the slow motion was killing Naruto who decided to take everything in hand, literally, as he put his hands into Sasuke's hair to force him down, to provoke the quick movement. Sasuke didn't complain, as he started to follow the speed Naruto was putting on him, doing exactly what Naruto's hand was ordering him to. He was going down, keeping all of Naruto's cock inside his mouth - who could have thought his throat was deep enough for that?

It went on for a bit, licking, sucking, going faster as Naruto ordered it, until the blond couldn't stand it anymore and with a moan he tried to chock with his hand, he came in Sasuke's mouth. Naruto breathed heavily, as he fell all the weight of his body getting down on him. He couldn't even look into anything, his sight became blurry because of the aftershock. As his body was slowly taking some control back, Sasuke started to clean all the semen he didn't keep in his mouth, licking every part he might have forgotten, before raising up to Naruto, still having this white liquid on the corner of his lip.

"Naruto." He whispered as he kissed his chest. "Naruto." he whispered again as he kissed his neck. "Naruto." he said again as Naruto held his breathe and that he just kissed his chin.

"NARUTO WAKE THE FUCK UP!" his cousin's voice yelled at his doorstep. "THERE'S SOMEONE WHO WANTS TO SEE YOU DAMNIT."

Naruto opened his eyes, his mind still blurry about what just happened. Memories of the night just came back at him like a slap in the face. He was sweating under his blankets, and he was still panting - but he was still wearing his pajamas pants.

"... a Dream?" he muttered to himself.

It seemed so real. Not only for him, though, but also for his erection, it seemed.

He started to stand up, thinking about how he needed to take care of it as soon as possible - and that he had to try to forget he spent the night dreaming about... about Sasuke giving him a blow job, god how was he going to forget that?!

"NARUTO!" Karin knocked again on his door. "THERE'S SOMEONE REALLY HOT WAITING FOR YOU RIGHT NOW GET THE FUCK OUT."

Obviously it had to happen that way. Why Naruto was sure it didn't mean him any good?

* * *

Sasuke didn't really expect to do anything that one day. Yet here he was, in front of Naruto's doorstep, thinking about backing off. Many parts of him were arguing about whenever he should knock or not. A part of his mind was convinced that seeing Naruto on the noon of his birthday WAS a good idea. Several parts of his mind, however, were convinced it was NOT considering how their last talk went.

If Sasuke knew he was going to see Naruto, he probably wouldn't have accepted the few drinks Suigetsu asked him to share with him before leaving for the club. Drinking could easily make Sasuke say stupid things, being too much teasing for his own good - but to think about all the sexual innuendo he forced on Naruto that day, he felt ashamed of himself. A minor part of him was actually proud of how he answered, but the rest of his mind was yelling at him for putting so much sinful scenes into his head. He should apologize when he could before Naruto believed he was.. Gay, y'know? Wouldn't be a good thing. After all, he wasn't. It's not like he felt the heat of the room going considerably warmer when he got this sextext from Naruto. Wasn't the kind of thing he was doing.

Sasuke tried really hard to not think about it. He already came to the realization he cared about this stupid guy, wasn't it enough? He didn't need to ask himself more questions on how to behave around him. And it was only a text, sent by someone else, to tease him during his birthday.

Finally determined, Sasuke rang at the door. He waited for a bit before knocking at it, waiting for an answer. Maybe he should call Naruto to wake him up? He must have been partying until late, maybe he wouldn't even hear him.

He was about to knock again when a girl opened the door. She had red messy hair falling on her shoulders, and some angry tired eyes. She was also half naked, as she was only wearing underwear and a t-shirt. Sasuke frowned. Naruto's girlfriend..? He didn't know he has one. Somehow, this thought bothered Sasuke.

"What is that?!" the girl angrily growled as she put her glasses on her nose. "What the fuck with coming that early in the morn-"

She stopped as soon as she saw Sasuke's face and she started to turn just as red as her own hair. Sasuke decided not to care.

"Is Naruto here?" he asked, as calm as he could.

"... NARUTO!" the girl yelled on the inside of the flat. She got no answers. "He must still be sleeping, huh, wait, I'm gonna.. I'm gonna pick him up, do you need to...?"

"I can stay here." Sasuke nodded and he crossed his arms. "Tell him Sasuke is here and, huh, would like to talk to him."

The girl blushed again and nodded as she turned back to the flat. She let the door open though, which allowed Sasuke to hear what happened inside.

"NARUTO WAKE THE FUCK UP!" the girl's voice yelled inside. "THERE'S SOMEONE WHO WANTS TO SEE YOU DAMNIT."

She got no answer, and she knocked on the door again. "NARUTO! THERE'S SOMEONE REALLY HOT WAITING FOR YOU RIGHT NOW GET THE FUCK OUT."

... If she was his girlfriend, why was she talking about him as someone really hot?

"You better have a good reason to knock my head off in the morning." he heard Naruto's voice inside, husky, probably because of the party the previous day.

"Don't you listen to me?!" the girl hissed at Naruto inside. "There's a _REALLY_ hot guy at the door! Is that your boyfriend? You didn't tell me you got a boyfriend!"

"What hot guy are you talking about?" Sasuke could hear Naruto say, seeming just as tired as if he stayed awake all night long.

"Smoking fucking hot!" the girl said, and it almost annoyed Sasuke - he told her his name, damnit! "Dark eyes, dark hair, totally build on a Godlike chest.."

"Sasuke?" Naruto asked as he yawned, and Sasuke's heart missed a beat. The only thing in this girl's description was how "hot" Sasuke was, and Naruto figured out just like that...? A new smile came on Sasuke's lips and erased absolutely everything he felt unease about.

"YES that's his name!" the girl said quickly, and then she stopped. "Wait, it is THE Sasuke?! The Sasuke you got a crush on?! You never told me he was hot!"

.. _A crush on_? "I don't have a crush on him you moron." Naruto grumbled. "God you're annoying, you're giving me a headache."

"Well, annoying or not, mister Hot Guy is waiting at the door and he wants to talk to you!"

There was a silent for a few seconds.

"You mean the door you kept opened and he probably heard all the conversation?"

Another silence.

"Ooups."

The next second, Sasuke heard a noise of people running into things, and before he could even know, the red hair girl arrived in front of the door again and hid herself behind Sasuke before he realized what the hell was going on, until Naruto arrived to the door, pissed off. He froze as he saw Sasuke and Sasuke totally forgot he was shielding a girl at that moment. Naruto was half naked, right in front of him, covered in sweat and wearing only oversized pants. He looked furious, and panting, and considering the conversation they had the last night, seeing him like that was the last of the thing Sasuke needed - one of the first as well, a voice in his head mocked him.

"Sasuke." Naruto said, after a moment of what seemed to be shock. "Why are you here?"

"I was expecting to talk to you, actually." Sasuke frowned and trying to focus on Naruto's face.

"In the morning?" Naruto asked with a frown as well.

"It's 11.30am."

"I'm with Naruto here," the girl behind Sasuke reacted. "It's still the morning."

Naruto seemed to realize she was here. "Fair enough, we're going to talk, but can you let me kill her first?"

The girl clang at Sasuke's jacket and kept hidden. "Nah, I'm sure the conversation you have to have with him is more important; sure enough.

"Sasukeeeeee." Naruto asked looking at him. "Could you let me kill her?"

Instead, Sasuke looked at her. "Are you the girl who sent me this text with Naruto's phone yesterday?" he asked.

"Depends who's asking for her." the girl replied, squinting her eyes.

"The guy who's going to protect her if she did." Sasuke added and Naruto gasped in indignation.

"It was totally me!" the girl giggled and blushed at that moment.

"Wowowow, YOU don't start to defend her, asshole!" Naruto complained. "You are MY friend, you should be on MY side."

"Except when it's about people humiliating you, Naruto." Sasuke rolled his eyes and Naruto seemed speechless, while the girl giggled even more.

Naruto started to feel like he could answer something but a red cat tried to walk outside, passing between his legs, and Naruto had to catch him before that. "You don't go anywhere." he mumbled to the cat who started to meow, trying to get away from his master.

"You know what I'm gonna take care of Kurama and you're going to talk!" the red hair girl said as she went next to Naruto to take the cat in her arms. She looked at Sasuke. "Nice to meet you!" and she came back inside.

As soon as the girl went out of sight, Naruto seemed uncomfortable. "Erg, I'm sorry, I just came out of my bed, and I absolutely need to take a shower-"

"I see that." Sasuke pointed out as he looked at Naruto's sweating well-built chest for a second - or was it a second.

Naruto turned red and sent him a death glare. "Bite me. So huh, can you make it short or...?"

"I thought about bringing you to a Ramen's restaurant for your birthday." Sasuke said, without really think about his words, and he wasn't surprised to see Naruto's eyes went wide. "It's still your favorite meal, isn't it?"

"... You are inviting me for my birthday?"

"If you don't mind it." Sasuke answered.

Naruto blinked for a few seconds, before throwing an eye on the inside. Then he nodded and got out of the way of the door. "Com'in. Huh, I take a shower and we will go there, okay?"

Sasuke nodded and agreed, as he walked inside Naruto's flat for the first time. It was a little messy place, and as Sasuke first speculated, looked really cheap. The girl with the red hair put a short on when she came back inside - ... that was for the best - and the was mindlessly patting the cat in her arms. Naruto closed the door behind Sasuke and he looked at the girl.

"Karin, you make him a coffee please?" Naruto asked. "And you don't do anything stupid, please?"

"I never do anything stupid." the so called Karin replied.

"You always do something stupid." Naruto grounded before looking at Sasuke. "Don't believe anything she'd tell you, she's a liar."

"Hey it's not true! Only the truth comes from my innocent mouth!" the girl replied to that attack.

"Don't believe anything." Naruto repeated, before heading to a door, which seemed to be his bedroom, where he took his clothes, before going to the other door, which was probably the bathroom. As soon as Naruto was out of sight, Sasuke looked at Karin who smiled immediately.

"He's always scared that I talk about the time he ran into the school naked when he was a kid." Karin shrugged which made Sasuke blink. "And that he did that again in high school. Coffee?"

She put the cat on the floor and she headed to the coffee machine. The cat - Kurama, was it? - went to Sasuke's feet to sniff it. Sasuke leant down to caress the head of the old cat, who answered him with an angry meow.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you." Karin said before Sasuke could touch the cat. "Kurama is a little bitch with anyone who isn't Naruto."

Sasuke frowned and looked at her. "And you, I suppose?"

"I have to share this cat's couch each time I come to visit." Karin shrugged. "We had to bond over how much we suffer from Naruto's lack of qualities as a host."

Sasuke rasped and he came closer from the table from the kitchen. Karin made him coffee. "So, do you drink the same horror than my cousin or are you a regular person who knows we need to drink our coffee sugarless?"

"Sugarless." Sasuke answered, a small grin coming on his lips. "Glad to know this sugar full terrible coffee isn't a family tradition."

"Are you kidding, we've all been telling Naruto he's going to have diabetes because of that." Karin shrugged as she gave Sasuke his coffee. "Does he listen? Nope."

"He doesn't seem to be the kind to listen." Sasuke commented.

"Sure he's not." Karin giggled and she sat in front of Sasuke. "So, how you two know each other?"

"Long story." Sasuke answered. He wasn't really in the mood to explain it, and something was telling him that if Naruto's cousin never heard of him, she would probably make Naruto pay for it. ... Which was actually a good reason to do it.

She looked a bit uncomfortable and she started to drink her coffee. "I'm sure surprised. You look like a rather calm person, it is surprising to see Naruto having a... friend like you."

Not like Sasuke was the one who wanted it to happen. He didn't comment on that and drank his coffee politely.

"Anyway." Karin cleared her throat. "About that text yesterday, I.."

"That's fine." Sasuke answered, shrugging. "It was fun to watch Naruto get mad about it."

"Watch Naruto get mad about it?" Karin frowned. "When?"

"I was at the Sharin-Club yesterday." Sasuke commented. "So we talked about it there."

Karin nodded, then she started to chuckle. "You mean when he was wearing his crown?"

"Yes." Sasuke snickered as he remembered that.

Karin started to laugh again, and Naruto came out of the bathroom then, dressed up - that almost disappointed Sasuke - and drying his hair with a towel. He looked at them both with a sort of anxiety.

"Tell me nothing terrible happened when I was away."

"Your flat is still in one piece.. ish." Karin noticed, looking at the mess as she got up. "No need to worry. Here, I made you a coffee, just like you like it." She gave him a cup with a huge smile.

Naruto frowned taking the cup. "... Why are you nice with me? What's the trap?"

"See, he doesn't even trust me!" Karin said as she turned to Sasuke.

Naruto still seemed to not trust her and he drank a bit of coffee. He started to grimace in ways Sasuke didn't know a face could be deformed into.

"You didn't put the sugar." Naruto chocked on his cup.

"Trying to teach you the good ways. Hope you didn't use all the hot water."

Sasuke restrained a chuckle, but Naruto heard it and sent him a death glare, as he took the sugar and denatured his coffee with it. Karin moved her way toward the bathroom and Sasuke got up, drinking the last bit of his coffee, as Naruto was drinking his.

"Ready?" Sasuke asked.

"Almost. Gotta take care that she doesn't destroy anything before." Naruto mumbled so his cousin doesn't hear.

"She's kinda fun." Sasuke pointed out.

"Try growing up with her, you won't end up saying that."

Sasuke couldn't help but smile. Somehow it could remind him on his relationship with Itachi, on how his big brother is always making his life a living hell. He could end up pitying him. But he didn't feel like to.

"Huh, about yesterday..." Sasuke started and Naruto blinked, looking at him.

"What about yesterday?" Naruto asked, surprised.

"I drank a bit before going to the club." Sasuke pointed out. "So everything I had said..."

Naruto raised his eyebrows and he started to laugh. "What did you think for one second I'd take it seriously?"

And Sasuke worried about it. "Well who knows how you may react to that kind of things."

Naruto rolled his eyes and smirked. "I meant what I said yesterday, y'know. Who would want to have sex with you?"

... Oh the bastard.

To be honest, if Naruto said he would be interested into having sex with Sasuke, Sasuke would have been uncomfortable. But saying the other way around somehow pissed Sasuke even more than if Naruto actually showed interest to him.

And Sasuke was quite sure it wasn't something he had to feel about another guy - especially the closest thing he had from a friend.

* * *

On the contrary to a popular belief, spending the lunch time with the guy you just had a terrible explicit wet dream about that one night could actually go better than expected. Naruto should thank Karin about it, as the adrenaline and the urge to kill her she developed in him managed to make him keep a straight face as he was facing this said guy with his still present erection from this said dream. Naruto would actually tell Kiba about this self-control that probably no one on Earth ever managed to get through, but there was no way he'd tell about Sasuke to Kiba - he wouldn't even leave him alone. Just as much as Karin, who was texting Naruto since they left the flat, asking him if he wanted to fuck this beautiful guy and that, if he didn't, she was interested. The least helpful cousin in the world, you might have guessed.

Naruto at least managed to make sense of this dream to make himself more comfortable with Sasuke. It wasn't that Naruto was attracted to the guy - dear god _no!_ - But rather that the alcohol with all those sex talks... It kinda grew on him. And Kiba was right when he recalled Naruto it has been a long time since he last had sex. Finally, having a sex dream about a rather hot friend who talked dirty to him while he was half drunk - it actually made sense that his brain came out with such a terrible dream right?

It was easy in his mind, however, sometimes looking at Sasuke brought back some memories of the night itself. Like, when Sasuke ate his ramen and his naruto in it - Naruto could totally see the irony of it - and that a white piece of his naruto ended up in the corner of his lips. The Actual Naruto could actually wonder if it was how karma was making fun of him at this point. At least, Naruto knew how to calm down whenever the imagery came back in his mind in the worst ways possible.

They talked for a bit at the Ramen's restaurant - talking about the different flavors, for a while. It was actually rather easy to talk with Sasuke, Naruto considered. He didn't really remember it was that easy.

"I didn't know you had a cousin." Sasuke said after a moment. "You're keeping secrets from me as well, don't you?"

"Geez, how can you even compare those two secrets?" Naruto answered before shaking his head. "She's a bit younger than me, and she wasn't in the same school as us."

"You didn't talk about her." Sasuke pointed out.

"Would you have talked about your annoying young cousin who was always trying to put make up on your face?" Naruto asked and he was quite happy to see Sasuke smile. "No, but seriously! she was a pain in the ass... She's still a pain in the ass. Geez, I wouldn't have talked about her if I wanted to get friends, that's the best way to get fucked up."

Sasuke shook his head. "It makes sense."

"Of course it makes sense. You say that like it was surprising I managed to make sense."

"Now that you talk about it..."

"Fucker."

Sasuke had a faint smile that he hid by drinking the end of his ramen. Naruto finished his as well, and as Naruto was about to pay, Sasuke basically held his hands down and paid for him. This touch burnt Naruto's skin maybe a little more than what he would admit.

"... What are you doing?" Naruto asked, frowning.

"I pay you the meal." Sasuke replied as if Naruto was dumb. "It's your birthday, asshole, it's all on me."

Naruto blinked a bit. "What's the trap?"

"Are you always that paranoid?" Sasuke rolled his eyes and he moved his way out of the restaurant. Naruto followed, and they walked for a bit in the street, quietly.

"I wondered..." Sasuke started, seeming a bit unease with what he was about to say.

"Don't hurt your brain too much with that." Naruto replied, and Sasuke answered by pushing him on the side.

"Idiot." he rolled his eyes. "I just wanted to know - your cousin, she assumed you had a crush on me. Why?"

... oh the _bastard_.

How much could Naruto hate him at that very moment. He grumbled and he put his hands in his pocket. "Tch, she took my phone yesterday, you witnessed it. She read the texts, because she's a terrible person. And she always assumes I got crushes on about anything."

"Didn't she realize I was a guy and you probably wouldn't have a crush on me then?"

Naruto stopped walking, and looked at Sasuke who did the same a few seconds later, looking at Naruto. How on earth could he answer at that? Naruto wasn't one to lie about his sexuality - but how to say that to his former best friend?

".. What?" Sasuke asked, frowning.

"And I'm the stupid one without a brain." Naruto threw at him as he started walking again, which made Sasuke walk with him again. "What do you think, jackass, it's because I'm attracted to guys. "

It was Sasuke's turn to look unease, he blinked a few time before answering. "You are?"

"Well, and to girls too I'm not gonna deny it." Naruto shrugged. "I'm bi, that's as simple as that."

There was a bit of silence until Sasuke started to talk. "Well, okay then."

"... That's it?" Naruto was more of less surprised.

"What do you mean, that's it?"

"I assumed you'd react more violently at that." Naruto said as he was still walking down the road with him.

"Well, you fuck whoever you want." Sasuke replied - did Naruto hallucinate or was Sasuke a bit colder than usual? "I have nothing to say about it."

Naruto didn't know how to take this answer. He could be hurt by what he thought was Sasuke's coldness, but he didn't know why Sasuke seemed pissed. He didn't look judgmental or anything. So he decided to joke about it. "Don't worry Sasuke, it's not because I'm attracted to guys that I would be attracted to you." He started to tease and Sasuke seemed to relax a bit. "I'm bi, not desperate."

Naruto definitely needed to forget about this dream that just popped up in his mind once again. Sasuke had a smug smile once again. "Say the guy who turned red when I talked about fuckin' him yesterday. And who's turning red again." Sasuke added when he saw the colors that came on Naruto's cheeks.

"It's a small blow to attack on our drunken acts, you asshole." He replied. "And you, do you just like joking about fucking a guy or would you at least consider it?"

Sasuke rolled his eyes. "I'm straight." He just said. And someone had to explain to Naruto why he felt a weight falling into his stomach.

"Geez, not even funny." Naruto replied.

Sasuke had a small smile coming on his lips, and Naruto just decided to roll with it. As they walked, they talked about a few things here and there - some memories, some news stuffs they didn't know about yet. Actually, even after that, they were just getting along. Talking with Sasuke just seemed... Genuine. He didn't need to force himself, to feel like he had to lie or anything - though it was not working the same way the other way around, but Sasuke was making efforts about it, and Naruto could feel it, and that was the only thing that mattered. He couldn't remember if they used to talk that way, before. Naruto doubted it, because he would have missed it for sure.

When Naruto was back home, he realized some things. First, he really missed Sasuke, all that time. He could definitely put Sasuke on his best friend list, without even a single hesitation. Second, he was having the best birthday ever.

Third: He was an idiot if he thought it was gonna last like that forever.

* * *

**Author's note:** I think this chapter is better if we read it really as a following of the previous one. I hope you enjoyed it. See you soon! and don't mind leaving some reviews


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